Rare Earth

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fourth Week of February, 2023.

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By Miguel A Heredia

During the 8th week of the year (February 20th to February 26th, 2023), at least 23 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with ten reporting resources and developments of their properties, six communicating production and financial results, two informing on exploration results, two commenting on Mexican issues, one disclosing deals and corporate issues, one announcing financing issues, and one discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Almaden regretted the decision of Mexico´s Ministry of Economy to deny the two mineral title applications which were first made by Almaden in 2002 and 2008, and which in turn led to the grant of mineral titles in 2003 and 2009, respectively. GoGold, Bear Creek, GR Silver, and Guanajuato Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2023. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Tocvan released results from surface channel sampling of selected area for a bulk sample at its Pilar project.  In Coahuila, Monumental Minerals provided an update and defined drill targets at its Jemi Heavy Earth Rare Element project. ON MINING, Coeur reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. Starcore announced Q3, 2023 production results from its San Martin mine in Queretaro. Equinox provided 2023 guidance for its Los Filos mine in Guerrero. Bear Creek announced 2023 production guidance for its Mercedes mine in Mexico. Gatos Silver released 2023 production and cost guidance for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. First Majestic reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. ON FINANCING, Silver Tiger closed its previously announced bought deal offering for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $18M (El Tigre project, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, GoGold reported additional drilling results from Los Ricos South, within the Eagle and Main Deposits in Jalisco. Guanajuato Silver announced drill results from its San Ignacio mine in Guanajuato. Alamos Gold reported Mineral Reserves and Resources for the year-ended 2022 at its Mulatos project, Sonora. Bear Creek released results of recent drilling from its Marianas and Rey de Oro deposits at its Mercedes mine in Sonora. Chesapeake announced updated Minera Resource Estimate for its world class Metates deposit in Durango.  Minera Alamos informed the commencement of drilling at its Santana project in Sonora. GR Silver reported underground drilling results from 35 holes drilled as part of the 2022 infill and exploratory drilling program conducted at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Silver Dollar identified five new mineralized target areas at its la Joya project in Durango. Regency Silver announced that two follow-up holes down-dip were completed at its Dios Padre project in Sonora. Vizsla provided a year-end 2022 summary of its activities carried out at its flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Minera Alamos granted stock options to its management team, Board of Directors, and certain consultants (Santana project, Sonora).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Almaden signed a cooperation agreement with the Ejido Santa Maria Zotoltepec, the ejido located closest to its Ixtaca project in Puebla.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., regretted the decision of Mexico´s Ministry of Economy to deny the two mineral title applications which were first made by Almaden in 2002 and 2008, and which in turn led to the grant of mineral titles in 2003 and 2009, respectively. These mineral titles underpin the Ixtaca deposit which was discovered by Almaden in 2010. As previously reported, these mineral titles were reduced to application status as a result of an early 2022 decision of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN). Almaden believes that this action by the Secretariat of Economy is inconsistent with the Mexican Mining Law, the SCJN decision, and international law. The Company expects to submit arguments challenging the Secretariat of Economy’s submissions to the District Court within the next few days.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., Bear Creek Mining Corporation, GR Silver Mining Ltd, and Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Tocvan Ventures Corp., released results from surface channel sampling of selected area from an up to 1,000 tonnes of oxide-gold bulk sample at its Pilar project in Sonora. Channel sampling was completed every 5m perpendicular to exposed mineralization and alteration at surface along the Main Zone and 4-T trends. Eight locations were sampled to test varying levels of exposed mineralization, all eight trench locations returned anomalous gold and silver values. Highlights include TR-2023-001 where seven samples over a 35m trend returned an average grade of 2.2 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag, ranging from 8.3 g/t Au to 0.1 g/t Au; TR-2023-002 where five samples over a 20m trend returned  an average grade of 2.8 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag, ranging from 7.1 g/t Au to 0.7 g/t Au; and TR-23-007 where five samples along a 25m trend returned an average grade of 2.2 g/t Au and 30 g/t Ag ranging from 7.3 g/t Au to 0.1 g/t Au. “Bulk Sample material will be extracted and prepared for processing by heap-leach method at a private mining operation less than 25km to the west of Pilar”.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., provided an update and defined drill targets at its Jemi heavy earth rare element project, located in Coahuila State. The exploration program carried out by the exploration team of the company consisted of detailed mapping and rock sampling, regional stream sediment sampling, ground radiometric geophysical surveys, and lithogeochemical sampling. The exploration effort has been focused on the Jemi dikes and Veladora Norte areas, which host peralkaline intrusion related REE mineralization. “Of the 188 samples with assay results, over one third (76 samples) returned values greater than 0.15% total rare earth oxide (TREO), including 5 samples that returned values greater than 1.0% TREO to a maximum value of 2.4% TREO. The average TREO for all samples is 0.21%, and a minimum value of 9 parts per million (ppm), which was returned in an iron-oxide/calcite vein”. This rock sampling has defined a series of high priority drill targets.

ON MINING

  • Coeur Mining Inc., reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. On Q4, 2022 the company milled 554,247 tonnes of 1.59 g/t Au and 98 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of  92.4% and 85% respectively to produce approximately 26K Oz Au and 1.49M Oz Ag. It sold 25.2K Oz Au and 1.49M Oz Ag at an average realized price of USD $1,519 per Oz Au and USD $21.10 per Oz Ag. Coeur reported metal sales of USD $69.5.4M; cost applicable to sales (CAS) of USD $47.1M; adjusted CAS per Oz Au of USD $1,027 and adjusted CAS per Oz Ag of USD $14.23; exploration expense of USD $1.5M; cash flow from operating activities of USD $18.9M; total capital expenditures of USD $8.1M; and free cash flow of USD $10.8M. On the full year 2022,  Coeur milled approximately 2.2M tonnes of 1.65 g/t Au and 113 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 92.1% and 84.2% respectively to produce approximately 106.8K Oz Au and 6.71M Oz Ag. It sold 107.1K Oz Au and  6.7M Oz Ag at an average realized price of USD $1,471 per Oz Au and USD $21.78 per Oz Ag. Coeur reported metal sales of USD $303.4M; cost applicable to sales (CAS) of USD $1822.6M; adjusted CAS per Oz Au of USD $883 and adjusted CAS per Oz Ag of USD $13.05; exploration expense of USD $6.6M; cash flow from operating activities of USD $88.4M; total capital expenditures of USD $42.6M; and free cash flow of USD $45.8M.
  • Starcore International Mines Ltd., announced Q3, 2023 production results from its san martin mine in Queretaro. The company milled 58,562 tonnes of 1.29 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 85.24% and 48.95% respectively to produce 2,182 Oz AuEq.
  • Equinox Gold Corp., provided 2023 guidance for its Los Filos mine in Guerrero. The company expects to produce between 160K-180K Oz Au at cash and all includes sustaining cost of USD $1,460-USD $1,620 and USD $1,680-USD $1,865 per Oz Au produced respectively; and a sustaining cost of USD $40M.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation announced 2023 production guidance for its Mercedes mine in Mexico. The company expects to produce 65K-75K Oz Au and 210K-243K Oz Ag during 2023 at an average cash cost per Oz Au in the range of  $830-$890 , and all in sustaining cost of $1,120-$1,290 per Oz Au.
  • Gatos Silver Inc., released 2023 production and cost guidance for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. The company expects to produce between 7.4-8.2M Oz Ag, 57-63M Lb Zn in Zn concentrates, 36-40M Lb Pb in Pb concentrates, and 5.4-6.2K Oz Au in Pb concentrates (or 12.4-13.8M Oz AgEq). All in sustaining cost for silver production and silver equivalent production has been estimated in USD $11-13 and USD $15.50-17.50 per Oz payable respectively. Gatos Silver also estimated sustaining capital expenditures at USD $45M; and exploration and definition drilling expenditures at USD $13M, including drilling of the south-east deep zone and district exploration.
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. The tables below show figures by mine for the period Q4 and full year 2022:

ON FINANCING

  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., closed its previously announced bought deal offering of 58.1M of common shares at a price of CADS $0.31 per share for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $18M. Gross proceeds will be used to continue advancement of its El Tigre mine in Sonora, and for general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • GoGold Resources Inc., reported additional drilling results from Los Ricos South, within the Eagle and Main Deposits in Jalisco. Drilling highlights include hole LRGAG-22-110 on the Eagle Deposits with 1.43 g/t Au and 43 g/t Ag (2 g/t AuEq or 150 g/t AgEq) over 62.4m, including 4.57 g/t Au and 71 g/t Ag (5.52 g/t AuEq or 414 g/t AgEq) over 16m, including 17.05 g/t Au and 189 g/t Ag (19.57 g/t AuEq or 1,468 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; hole LRGAG-22-113 on the Eagle Deposit with 3.29 g/t Au and 358 g/t Ag (8.06 g/t AuEq or 605 g/t AgEq), including 20.05 g/t Au and 2,000 g/t Ag (46.72 g/t AuEq or 3,504 g/t AgEq) over 1.8m, including 40 g/t Au and 3,490 g/t Ag (86.53 g/t AuEq or 6,490 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m, plus 2.32 g/t Au and 58 g/t Ag (3.09 g/t AuEq or 232 g/t AgEq) over 29.5m, including 5.20 g/t Au and 72 g/t Ag (6.16 g/t AuEq or 462 g/t AgEq) over 12.3m, including 21.10 g/t Au and 170 g/t Ag (23.37 g/t AuEq or 1,752 g/t AgEq) over 1m; hole LRGAG-22-115 on the Eagle Deposit with 1.44 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (2.45 g/t AuEq or 183 g/t AgEq) over 31.5m, including 3.38 g/t Au and 147 g/t Ag (5.34 g/t AuEq or 400 g/t AgEq) over 11m, including 12.85 g/t Au and 64 g/t Ag (13.70 g/t AuEq or 1,028 g/t AgEq) over 1; and hole LRGAG-22-227 on the Main Deposit with 1.28 g/t Au and 105 g/t Ag (2.68 g/t AuEq or 201 g/t AgEq) over 29m, including 4.84 g/t Au and 352 g/t Ag (9.54 g/t AuEq or 715 g/t AgEq) over 6.3m, including 24 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag (28.47 g/t AuEq or 2,135 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m. The Eagle Deposit adjoins the Main Deposit and represents a northern extension of the previously defined Mineral Resource Estimate in the Los Ricos South PEA.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced drill results from its San Ignacio mine in Guanajuato. Drilling highlights include hole UGSI22-005, the best drill hole the company has drilled at any of its mines acquired from Great Panther, with 5.11 g/t Au and 810 g/t Ag (1,219 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 4.92m, including 25.84 g/t Au and 4,914 g/t Ag (6,981 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.42m, including 28.23 g/t Au and 1,693 g/t Ag (3,951 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.42m. This significant drill result on the Melladito vein will be followed up with additional drill holes attempting to follow the down dip extension of the vein within the Company’s 2023 drill campaign. In addition, the company is in the midst of driving a 400m access ramp from Melladito to the analogous Purisima vein, which offers the potential for expanded production at San Ignacio mine. Guanajuato Silver also confirmed that it will provide an updated mineral resource estimate which is expected to be completed by Q3, 2023.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., reported Mineral Reserves and Resources for the year-ended 2022 at its Mulatos project, Sonora. The company reported Proven + Probable Mineral Reserves of 26,734,000 tons with an average grade of 1.95 g/t Au for a total of 1,679,000 Oz Au contained. Alamos Gold also announced Measured + Indicated Mineral Resources (exclusive of Mineral Reserves) for 10,302,000 tonnes of 2.52 g/t Au for a total of 502K Oz Au contained, and Inferred Resources for 1,774,000 tonnes of 1.27 g/t Au for a total of 72K Oz Au contained. In addition, the company has budgeted a total of USD $17M for exploration in 2023. This budget comprises 16,000m of surface exploration drilling at Puerto del Aire, Gap Victor, and Estrella Zones, and 34,000m for regional exploration on high priority targets, including Halcon, Halcon West, Carricito, Bajios, and Jaspe.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation released results of recent underground drilling from its Marianas and Rey de Oro deposits at its Mercedes mine in Sonora. Drilling highlights (reported in true widths) include hole UG-MR22-105 collared on Marianas Deposit with 5.68 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag over 2.8m, plus 12.43 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag over 2.8m; hole UG- MR22-106 on Mariana Deposit with 41 g/t Au and 24 g/t Ag over 0.8m; hole UG-MAR22-113 on Mariana Deposit with 8.47 g/t Au and 32 g/t Ag over 3m, plus 5.02 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag over 3m; hole  UG-RDO23-075 collared on Rey de Oro Deposit with 10.23 g/t Au and 182 g/t Ag over 3.5m; hole UG-RDO22-077 on Rey de Oro Deposit with 15.35 g/t Au and 109 g/t Ag over 1.03m; and hole M22-934D on GAP Deposit with 6.47 g/t Au and 58 g/t Ag over 2.2m. “The Marianas and GAP drilling represent step-outs from the existing underground mining operations along the main Mercedes vein zone.  The Rey de Oro drilling represents extensions downdip and along strike of the existing reserves and underground operations”.
  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., announced updated Minera Resource Estimate (MRE) for its world class Metates deposit in Durango. The updated MRE incorporates an additional 23 holes drilled by Chesapeake and has an effective date of January 28, 2023.  It include Measured + Indicated Resources for 921.2M tonnes with average grades of 0.57 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag for a total of 16.77M Oz Au and 423.2M Oz Ag contained, and Inferred Resources for 139.5M tonnes with average grades of 0.47 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag for a total of 2.13M Oz Au and 59 M Oz Ag contained. “This updated MRE together with on-going metallurgical work will form the basis of a new Pre-Feasibility Study”.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., informed the commencement of drilling at its Santana project in Sonora. The company plans to drill a number of gold bearing breccia pipes in the cluster that comprise the Santana project. Some of these priority targets such as Zata and Benjamin Hill have never been drilled before. Over 10,000m of drilling in up to 80 holes have been planned by the company`s exploration team to drill-test the targets.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., reported underground drilling results from 35 holes drilled as part of the 2022 infill and exploratory drilling program conducted at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights ( reported in true widths) include hole PLIP22-30 with 69 g/t Ag, 2.67 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, 0.2% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (353 g/t AgEq) over 14.1m, including 227 g/t Ag, 5.39 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, 0.6% Zn, and 0.4% Cu (808 g/t AgEq) over 1.6m, including 219 g/t Ag, 40.18 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 1% Cu (4,075 g/t AgEq) over 0.6m; hole PLIP22-52 with 2 g/t Ag and 1.91 g/t Au (182 g/t AgEq) over 8.1m, including 33 g/t Ag and 64.5 g/t Au (6,033 g/t AgEq) over 0.2M; hole PLIP22-29 with 55 g/t Ag, 1.01 g/t Au, 3.1% Pb, 4.8% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (441 g/t AgEq) over 21.7m, including 299 g/t Ag, 5.42 g/t Au, 1.8% Pb, 9.7% Zn, and 0.6% Cu (1,291 g/t AgEq) over 2.8m; hole PLIP22-35 with 20 g/t Ag, 1.8 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, 1.5% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (221 g/t AgEq) over 14.2m, including 44 g/t Ag, 1.1 g/t Au, 10.4% Pb, 15.3% Pb, and 0.3% Cu (1,059 g/t AgEq) over 0.2m, including 46 g/t Ag, 6.09 g/t Au, 2.7% Pb, 8.4% Pb, and 0.8% Cu (1,105 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m; and hole PLIP22-42 with 30 g/t Ag, 0.76 g/t Au, 7.9% Pb, 7.9% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (669 g/t AgEq) over 8.3m, including 49 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au, 7.8% Pb, 10.9% Zn, and 1.1% Cu (846 g/t AgEq) over 0.9m, including 50 g/t Ag, 1.97 g/t Au, 19.7 g/t Pb, 15.6% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (1,422 g/t AgEq) over 2.7m.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., identified five new mineralized target areas at its la Joya project in Durango. These areas are located in the unexplored portion of the property and were outlined during the last exploration campaign which consisted of geological mapping and sampling. The Verde and Hueco Areas were partially drilled by a previous operator, while Dyke North, Dyke South, and South-East Areas never have been drill tested before.
  • Regency Silver Corp., announced that two follow-up holes down-dip from REG-22-01 were completed at its Dios Padre project in Sonora. Hole REG-22-01 intersected 6.84 g/t Au, 22 g/t Ag, and 0.88% Cu over 35.8m, including 13.97 g/t Au, 50 g/t Ag, and 1.11% Cu over 9.8m. Hole REG-23-14 encountered 32m of pyrite-specularite-chalcopyrite supported breccia from approximately 454-486m within a broader zone of disseminated and vein hosted mineralization approximately 25m down dip from REG-22-01, while hole REG-23-15 intersected 120m of specularite-pyrite-chalcopyrite supported breccia from approximately 400-520m within a broader zone of disseminated and vein hosted mineralization approximately 85m down-dip from REG-22-01 and about 62m down-dip from REG-23-14.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., provided a year-end 2022 summary of its activities carried out at its flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa, and outlined the goals for 2023. During Q1, 2022 the company announced its initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) centered on the western portion of the Panuco district.  In 2022, Vizsla completed over 121,000m of additional drilling to conclude in an updated MRE on January 2023, with a significant increase in gold and silver as well as in the overall grade. The company also discovered other near-surface, high-grade structures, demonstrating the growth potential outboard of the known resource boundaries. “For 2023, our focus is on incremental expansion and de-risking of the current resource base. With a fully funded +90,000m drill program utilizing seven drill rigs, we plan to update the current Panuco resource estimate in the second half of 2023, which will be followed in due course by an initial Preliminary Economic Assessment”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Minera Alamos Inc., granted stock options to its management team, Board of Directors, and certain consultants. The Board of Directors approved the issuance of a total of 2.25M options at an exercise price of $0.51, and 6.9M at an exercise price of $0.45. All the options will expire in 5 years and vest 50% on the first anniversary of their grant and 50% on the second anniversary (Santana project, Sonora).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., signed a cooperation agreement with the Ejido Santa Maria Zotoltepec, the ejido located closest to its Ixtaca project in Puebla, to support an agro-technological package aimed at sustainable plan nutrition and soil enrichment.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, an outcrop of a flow banded rhyolite in a low-sulphidation epithermal veins prospect in Sonora Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of December, 2022.

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Panning gold in a cow´s horn

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 50th week of the year (December 12th to December 18th, 2022), at least 20 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico with six informing on exploration results, five  reporting resources and developments of their properties, five announcing financing issues, two commenting on Mexican issues, and two disclosing deals and corporate issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Trafigura announced that along with eFactor Network and a number of financing institutions are piloting a Sustainable Supply Chain Finance Program for mining companies in Mexico.  GR Silver, Vizsla, Mammoth, GoGold, and Almadex   reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of December, 2022. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Aztec released final results from its 2021-2022 drilling program at its Cervantes project, and Minaurum provided an update on its optioned Adelita project. In Chihuahua, Mammoth presented results from six holes from its 27 holes diamond drilling program at its Tenoriba project, and Southern Empire has initiated the field exploration program work on its recently optioned Centauro property.  In Coahuila, Monumental completed reconnaissance exploration program and defined drill targets at its Jemi Rare Earth Element project.  In Jalisco, Almadex released results from the second hole drilled in 2022 at its San Pedro project. Minaurum provided and update on its optioned Taviche mining property.  ON MINING, no relevant news. ON FINANCING, Guanajuato Silver announced a non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $7.5M, subject to a minimum offering for gross proceeds of CAD $3M (El Cubo, San Ignacio, and Valenciana mines, Guanajuato).  Prismo Metals closed its previously announced brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $3,016,000 (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa). Tarachi announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $500K (Magistral Mill and tailings project, Durango). Fortuna announced that it has amendment its existing senior secured revolving credit facility to increase the maximum facility amount by USD $50M to USD $250M (San Jose Mine, Oaxaca). Regency Silver announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $2M (Dios Padre Project, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, GoGold presented results of nine holes from its ongoing drilling program at its Los Ricos North project, Jalisco. GR Silver announced additional results from its 2022 underground infill drilling program at its Plomosas mine area in Sinaloa. Vizsla Silver Corp., released results from nineteen new drill holes targeting the Tajitos-Copala resource area at its Panuco project, Sinaloa. Tocvan announced plan to collect a bulk sample from its El Pilar project in Sonora. Silver Dollar reported progress on its new underexplored Noria target at its La Joya project, Durango. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Osisko Development strengthened its Board of Directors with the appointment of a new Non-Executive Director, effective December 14, 2022 (San Antonio Gold project, Sonora).  Sierra Metals completed voluntary delisting from the Lima Stock Exchange (Cusi and Bolivar mines, Chihuahua). Southern Empire entered into an option agreement to acquire 100% interest in the Centauro property in Chihuahua.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Trafigura Pte Ltd., announced that along with eFactor Network and a number of financial institutions are piloting a Sustainable Supply Chain Finance Program for mining companies in Mexico.  The Program, the first of its type and providing a model that can be scaled across the region, is structured to improve mining companies’ working capital whilst driving responsible sourcing practices along the metals value chain.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., Vizsla Silver Corp., Mammoth Resources Corp., GoGold Resources Inc., and Almadex Minerals Ltd., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of December, 2022. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Aztec Minerals Corp., released final results from its 2021-2022 drilling program at its Cervantes project. The 2022-2022 drilling program consisted of 27 RC totaling 5,249m, and 11 oriented core totaling 2,558.5m for a total combined amount drilled of 7,837.5m in 37 drill holes on the California Zone, California Norte, Jasper, and Purisima Este targets. It was successful in intercepting strong mineralization, as well as in expanding the targets.  “The multi-element ICP values support the exploration model of the California zone being at the highest portion of a porphyry system, where an overlying high sulfidation zone has been eroded away”. Results of this drilling program are currently being analyzed in order to refine future targeting.
  • Minaurum Gold Inc., provided an updated on its Adelita project in Sonora, which is under an option agreement with Infinitum Copper Corp. Infinitum has identified five main target areas of which Cerro Grande is being drilled and plans to drill Las Trancas target soon. Significant mineralization has been intersected at Cerro Grande target in hole AD-22-0018 with 1.91% Cu, 2 g/t Au, and 41 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 20.6m; and hole AD-22-0019 with 1.01% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au, and 40 g/t Ag over a TW of 32.25m, including 1.68% Cu, 0.83 g/t Au, and 59 g/t Ag over a TW of 17.05m. Cerro Grand Target is a mineralized zone of up to 36m thick, over 250m deep and has a strike 200m.
  • Mammoth Resources Corp., presented results from six holes for a total of 620.7m from its 27 holes diamond drilling program at its Tenoriba project in Chihuahua. Highlights of the drilling include hole TEN21-22 collared on Carneritos Zone with 0.98 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag (1.12 g/t AuEq) over 3m, and 0.57 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag (0.68 g/t AuEq) over 10.5m; and hole TEN21 -24 with 1.14 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (1.13 g/t AuEq) over 39m, including 5.28 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag (5.45 g/t AuEq) over 3m, including 1.45 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag (1.60 g/t AuEq) over 9m, plus 0.46 g/t Au and 2 g/t Ag (0.48 g/t AuEq) over 42m, including 1.21 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag (1.28 g/t AuEq) over 12m.  These six holes bring the total meters drilled in the recent phase to 3,244.25m in twenty seven holes.
  • Southern Empire Resources Corp., has initiated the field exploration program work on its recently optioned Centauro property. The company contracted PhotoSat Information Ltd  to provide maps of alteration mineral suites typically associated with epithermal precious metal deposits, using their proprietary processing methods for16 band WorldView-3 and high-resolution ASTER satellite optical spectral data. Results of the PhotoSat studies show significant trends highlighting argillic, sericite, and chlorite alteration. Southern also collected 396 soil samples  at 50m spacing along E-W lines, spaced 100-200m apart to cover a zone of prospective alteration and mineralization over 4km strike length. Assays are pending.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., completed reconnaissance exploration program, which consisted of detailed geological mapping, regional stream sediment sampling, ground radiometric geophysical surveys, and lithogeochemical sampling to delineate discreet drill targets at its Jemi Rare Earth Element project. To date, 37 whole-rock analytic results from rocks collected at the Jemi project of which 11 have returned values greater than 0.15% total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO), including six samples that returned values greater than 0.23% TREO and up to 0.43% TREO. Results for 269 samples are still pending to arrive. Heavy rare earth oxide (HREO) values (include dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb)), ranged between 1614 ppm and 39 ppm in peralkaline pegmatites, averaging 447 ppm. Six samples exceeded 680 ppm, including three that exceeded 830 ppm. Light rare earth oxides (LREO) values including neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), returned values up to 0.26% and 0.23%, with values in trend with HREO concentrations suggesting similar REE-hosting phases in the peralkaline rock samples. “Geological mapping has confirmed that samples with the highest TREO and HREO values are from pegmatitic bodies. Three-dimensional airborne magnetics modeling show that surface pegmatite bodies are spatially associated with a numerous larger magnetic anomalies at depth that may represent potential source intrusions. Specific drill locations will target these pegmatites”.
  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., released results from the second hole drilled in 2022 at its San Pedro project in Jalisco.  Hole SP-22-004 intersected 846 /t Au over 1.3m. The current drilling program intends to better understand the orientation and distribution of the breccia zone so that further, more focused drilling can eventually be carried out.
  • Minaurum Gold Inc., provided an updated on its Taviche project in Oaxaca, which is under an option agreement with Fortuna Silver Corp. Fortuna is currently focused on the re-negotiation of surface rights to be followed by drill permits. “Review of historic data and field mapping over the last year identified the possible continuation of the Mezcal Fault for 3km to the northwest.  Drill targeting is in progress along the Mezcal Fault to test for both Mezcal-style gold mineralization and silver bonanza style mineralization associated with jasperoid-related mantos”.  Another goal is to develop additional concepts to test the potential at depth at the Cerro La  Mina Zone where a drill hole encountered 235 g/t Ag and 0.19 g/t Au over 46.3m.

ON MINING

  • No relevant news.

ON FINANCING

  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced a non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption private placement of up to 17,647,059 units at CAD $0.425 for gross proceeds of CADS $7.5M, subject to a minimum offering of 7,058,824 units for gross proceeds of CAD $3M. Gross proceeds will be used to ramp up production at El Cubo, San Ignacio, and Valenciana mines in Guanajuato; expand and modernize the processing facilities at the Topia mine in Durango; increase brownfield exploration programs across all company´s projects; and fund general working capital expenses and strengthen Guanajuato Silver’s balance sheet.
  • Prismo Metals Inc., closed its previously announced brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $3,016,000. The gross proceeds will be used to continue drilling at its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa, and to continue the mapping and sampling at its Pavitos project in Sonora, as well as to conduct an initial diamond drilling program.
  • Tarachi Gold Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 10M units at a price of CAD $0.05 per unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD $500K. The gross proceeds will be used for exploration, working capital purposes, and for the ongoing development of the Company’s Magistral project in Mexico including, but not limited to, metallurgical test work, final design and permitting.
  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., announced that it has amendment its existing senior secured revolving credit facility to increase the maximum facility amount by USD $50M to USD $250M (San Jose Mine, Oaxaca).
  • Regency Silver Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement of 10M common shares at a price of CAD $0.20 per share for gross proceeds of CAD $2M. Net proceeds will be used for work programs including drilling and geophysics in its flagship Dios Padre project, Sonora, as well as for general working capital.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • GoGold Resources Inc., presented results of nine holes from its ongoing drilling program collared at El Favor East deposit within its Los Ricos North project, Jalisco. Highlights of the drilling include hole LRGF-22-140 with 1.39 g/t Au and 139 g/t Ag (3.24 g/t AuEq or 243 g/t AgEq) over 2.5m, plus 0.48 g/t Au and 257 g/t Ag (3.92 g/t AuEq or 294 g/t AgEq) over 13.9m, including 1.84 g/t Au and 960 g/t Ag (14.65 g/t AuEq or 1,099 g/t AgEq) over 3.2m, including 2.96 g/t Au and 2,307 g/t Ag (33.72 g/t AuEq or 2,529 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m; and hole LRGF-22-137 with 0.29 g/t Au and 143 g/t Ag (2.2 g/t AuEq or 165 g/t AgEq) over 61.5m, including 0.66 g/t Au and 300 g/t Ag (4.66 g/t AuEq or 350 g/t AgEq) over 24.3m, including 1.71 g/t Au and 881 g/t Ag (13.46 g/t AuEq or 1,009 g/t AuEq) over 0.7m.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced additional results from its 2022 underground infill drilling program at its Plomosas Mine Area in Sinaloa. Highlights of the drilling include hole PLIP22-28 with 55 g/t Ag, 8.66 g/t Au, 2.7% Pb, 6.6% Zn, and 0.5% Cu (1,242 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 6.9m; hole PLI17-26 with 3 g/t Ag, 2.64 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn (257 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 10.7m; hole PLI22-42 with 43 g/t Ag, 1.96 g/t Au, 1.2% Pb, 2.1% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (369 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 20.9m, including 61 g/t Ag, 4.52 g/t Au, 2.9% Pb, 5.5% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (802 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 7.5m, plus 28 g/t Ag, 3.6 g/t Au, 0.6% Pb, 2.3% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (489 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 10.6m, including 46 g/t Ag, 11.5 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, 3.7% Zn, and 0.4% Cu (1,263 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 2m, plus 87 g/t Ag, 7.13 g/t Au, 4.4% Pb, 8.3% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (1,184 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.8m, plus 42 g/t Ag, 3.90 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, 1.2% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (479 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.7m, plus 28 g/t Ag, 6.05 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb, 1.9% Zn, and 0.1% Cu (695 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.5m; hole PLI22-47 with 281 g/t Ag, 2.15 g/t Au, 8.9% Pb, and 6% Zn (970 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 2.4m; and hole PLI22-46 with 44 g/t Ag, 1.9 g/t Au, 11.2% Pb, 10% Zn, and 0.1% Cu (940 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 4.9m, including 64 g/t Ag, 4.02 g/t Au, 19.5% Pb, 17% Zn, and 0.1% Cu (1,659 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.9m. “The infill drilling program at the Plomosas Mine Area continues to provide information for the Company to enhance the geological model and confirm the presence of high-grade structures on the hanging wall and footwall of the main mineralized breccia. Gold mineralized zones exceeding 20 m down hole width have been drilled in the current program in both the hanging wall and footwall”.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., released results from nineteen new drill holes targeting the Tajitos-Copala resource area at its Panuco project, Sinaloa. Highlights of the drilling include hole CS-22-205 with 2,101 g/t Ag and 9.54 g/t Au (2,640 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 5.30m, including 3,080 g/t Ag and 23.60 g/t Au (4,563 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.58m, plus 85 g/t Ag and 0.24 g/t Au (96 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.16m; hole CS-22-210 with 425 g/t Ag and 2.31 g/t Au (561 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 15.50m, including 2,710 g/t Ag and 22.30 g/t Au (4,125 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.41m, including 1,285 g/t Ag and 7.24 g/t Au (1,716 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.54m, including 1,800 g/t Ag and 9.69 g/t Au (2,371 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.41m, including 1,630 g/t Ag and 7.34 g/t Au (2,044 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.01m; hole CS-22-216 with 626 g/t Ag and 4.48 g/t Au (905 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 8.09m, including 1,250 g/t Ag and 14 g/t Au (2,170 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.81m, including 2,230 g/t Ag and 18.1 g/t Au (3,376 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.57m, including 1,170 g/t Ag and 7.54 g/t Au (1,631 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.75m; hole CS-22-201 with 237 g/t Ag and 1.74 g/t Au (346 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 2.18m, including 427 g/t Ag and 3.22 g/t Au (629 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.11m, plus 2,536 g/t Ag and 13.65 g/t Au (3,340 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.86m, including 7,740 g/t Ag and 57.6 g/t Au (11,343 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.19m, including 6,220 g/t Ag and 27.20 g/t Au (7,742 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.43m; and hole CS-22-217 with 1,496 g/t Ag and 6.56 g/t Au (1,862 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 2.71m, including 1,295 g/t Ag and 4.59 g/t Au (1,535 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.64m, including 13,118 g/t Ag and 63.7 g/t Au (16,783 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.20m. “The infill results support grade continuity in the south-central portion of Copala structure, while resource expansion drilling to the north and southeast continue to highlight mineralization remains open”.
  • Tocvan Ventures Corp., entered into an agreement with a neighboring private mining company for the completion of its first bulk sampling for processing by heap-leach method from its El Pilar project in Sonora. The plan is to process up to 1,000 tonnes of material at a private mining operation less than 25km to the west of Pilar with the aim of providing a more detail account of expected head-grade and recovery percentage of gold. Processing and analysis of this bulk sample is expected to span three to four months. Other goals to accomplish are to continue drilling, update reporting and maiden resource estimate, and permitting for full-scale on-site mine facilities and processing.  
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., reported progress on its new underexplored Noria target at its La Joya project, Durango. The company recently completed a ground magnetic survey on the Coloradito area within the Noria portion of the property, which consisted of 14 lines spaced 50-100m and ranging over 1.3km in length for a total of approximately 19.8km of magnetic data.   The geophysics contractor identified 3 relatively well-contrasted and thin magnetic beds striking N150°/N330°, which may underscore, sulphide and ferromagnesian horizons hosted along shear zones.  In addition, a total of 125 rock samples have been collected and submitted to the lab of which 79 samples have been received to date. In one of the targets sample assays returned values up to 291 g/t Ag, 0.8 g/t Au, and 1.2% Zn, while in another one 7 samples returned elevated Zn and Pb, ranging from 0.3-1% and 1.4-6.2% respectively. Further follow-up work is being conducted in the areas where both geophysical and geochemical anomalies have been identified to develop new drill targets.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Osisko Development Corporation strengthened its Board of Directors with the appointment of a new Non-Executive Director, effective December 14, 2022 (San Antonio Gold project, Sonora).  
  • Sierra Metals Inc., completed voluntary delisting from the Lima Stock Exchange, effective December 15, 2022. Sierra Metals’ common shares will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (Cusi and Bolivar mines, Chihuahua).
  • Southern Empire Resources Corp., entered into an option agreement to acquire 100% interest in the Centauro property in Chihuahua. Southern can earn 100% interest by making cash payments totalling USD $750K, issuing 1.5M common shares of Southern Empire and completing work commitment of USD $800K over a five years period. The option agreement include a 3% Net Smelter Return (NSR) and Southern Empire has the right to buy 2% of the NSR for USD $2M.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • No relevant news.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, panning gold in a cow´s horn in a low sulphidation epithermal vein system project in Zacatecas, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Second Week of August, 2022.

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Banded calcite vein

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 32nd week of the year (August 08th to August 14th, 2022), at least 27 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 2 news published by the media with twelve communicating production and financial results, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, three commenting on Mexican issues, three reporting resources and developments of their properties, three informing on exploration results, two announcing financing issues, and two discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Vizsla Silver, GR Silver, and Defiance Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of August, 2022. According to a report from the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security, in the last three years, 979 mine inspections have been carried out throughout the country, of which 387 have been carried out in the coal zone of Sabinas, Coahuila. The General Directorate of Mines of the Ministry of Economy provisionally suspended works on 10 mining concessions in Sabinas Coahuila. ON EXPLORATION, In Coahuila, Monumental Minerals announced results of a recently satellite multispectral interpretation covering its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements project. In Durango, Silver Wolf released 155 grab sample results collected during the ongoing surface sample program at its Ana Maria project which has returned some high-grade values up to 1,536 g/t Ag, 34% Pb, and 19.4% Zn. In Zacatecas, Defiance Silver provided an update on the 4,750m maiden drill program at its Lucita project, within its Zacatecas Silver property.  ON MINING, Argonaut reported Q2, 2022 production results from their Mexican mining operations. Aura provided a production guidance for 2022 on its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas where it expects to produce between 115-120K Oz AuEq at cash cost between USD $645-690 per Oz AuEq produced.  Avino reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Avino mine, Durango. Capstone reported Q2, 2022 production results from its Cozamin mine, Zacatecas. Endeavour reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. Gatos Silver reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua. GoGold reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Parral Tailings project, Chihuahua.  Golden reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Rodeo mine, Durango. Orla reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Camino Rojo mine, Zacatecas. SilverCrest reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Las Chispas project, Sonora. Americas reported Q2, 2022 production results from its Cosala mine in Sinaloa. ON FINANCING, Advance announced a non-brokered private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to $200K (Sarape project, Sonora). Fabled informed about an extension of its non-brokered private placement (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua). Fortuna Silver reported Q2. 2022 from its San Jose mine, Oaxaca.  GoGold reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Parral Tailings project, Chihuahua. Golden Minerals reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Rodeo mine, Durango. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, GR Silver reported a new Ag discovery SE of its San Marcial Resource Area on its wholly-owned Plomosas project, Sinaloa. Pan American Silver reported Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources as at June 30, 2022 for their Mexican properties. Vizsla released results from 26 new drill holes targeting the Tajitos-Copala resource area at its 100%-owned flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Prismo announced that its common shares are now eligible for electronic clearing and settlement in the United States through the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”). Consolidated Zinc made several management changes (Plomosas mine, Chihuahua). Advance Lithium sold its royalty on three claims in Kenya to Orogen for USD $120K and the transfer of the 100% ownership of its Sarape property, Sonora. Kootenay amended the schedule on the final payment of its option agreement for 100% of the Columba high-grade silver project, Chihuahua.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, First Majestic released its 2021 Sustainability report. Peñoles and Fresnillo plc promote entrepreneurs.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • Vizsla Silver, GR Silver and Defiance Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of August, 2022. Details are shown in the table below:
  • According to a report from the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security, in the last three years, 979 mine inspections have been carried out throughout the country, of which 387 have been carried out in the coal zone, which means that “39% of all the mining inspections that have been carried out in the coal zone of Sabinas (Sabinas, Nueva Rosita, Palau)”. In the coal region, in these three years, 27 mining operations have been closed; that is, 84% of all mine closures in the country, due to non-compliance with security measures; to date 15 remain in force. In addition, the Ministry of Economy has been informed of the existence of 12 concessions that presumably could have irregularities.
  • The General Directorate of Mines of the Ministry of Economy provisionally suspended the works on 10 mining concessions in Sabinas Coahuila, on August 11, until the employers or representatives of each of the work centers certify compliance with the measures dictated in each one of the respective files after the inspections carried out by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (STPS). The then General Director of Mines did not proceed with the provisional suspension of the works, arguing that the STPS information on the 10 previously mentioned mining concessions did not coincide with the registry data held by the General Directorate of Mines. Considering this and other possible irregularities, the Directors of Mines and Obligations were dismissed last June with the purpose of investigating and, where appropriate, establishing the corresponding responsibilities.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Monumental Minerals Corp., announced results of a recently satellite multispectral interpretation covering its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements project in Coahuila. The interpretation highlighted discreet areas that may host eudialyte-bearing dykes, veins, and disseminations. Eudialyte is a Na, Ca, Fe/Mn, Zr silicate mineral that can contain up to 10% Rare Earth Elements, and 12% ZrO2. The Aster satellite spectral data also identified several areas prospective for Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag carbonate replacement deposits.
  • Silver Wolf Exploration Ltd., released 155 grab sample results collected during the ongoing surface sample program at its Ana Maria project, Durango, which has returned some high-grade values of Ag, Pb, and Zn.  From the 155 samples collected by Silver Wolf, 30 returned values >100 g/t Ag, 73 returned > 0.5% Pb, and 59 returned > 0.5% Zn with peaks of 1,536 g/t Ag, 34% Pb, and 19.4% Zn.  These results combined with the anomalies generated in the geophysical and remote sensing surveys will provide a basis for prioritizing drill targets.
  • Defiance Silver Corp., provided an update on the 4,750m maiden drill program at its Lucita project, within its Zacatecas Silver property. Drilling has encountered multiple intercepts over 199 g/t Ag and individual high-grade silver intervals. Drilling highlights include hole DDLU-22-10 with 0.20 g/t Au and 264 g/t Ag over 3.05m, including 0.19 g/t Au and 668 g/t Ag over 0.77m, plus 0.37 g/t Au and 166 g/t Ag over 4.01m, including 0.57 g/t Au and 220 g/t Ag over 22.72m, including 1.13 g/t Au and 416 g/t Ag over 1.22m, plus 0.08 g/t Au and 235 g/t Ag over 2.25m, including 0.19 g/t Au and 737 g/t Ag over 0.53m, plus 0.03 g/t Au and 189 g/t Ag over 0.75m, plus 0.04 g/t Au and 108 g/t Ag over 0.88m; and hole  DDLU-22-13 with 0.04 g/t Au and 147 g/t Ag over 1.57m, plus 0.04 g/t Au and 150 g/t Ag over 2m, including 0.2 g/t Au and 843 g/t Ag over 0.3m, plus 0.09 g/t Au and 109 g/t Ag over 1.15m. “The inaugural drill program at Lucita central (Palenque vein system) confirmed the presence of high-grade, Fresnillo-style, low to intermediate-sulfidation epithermal silver mineralization, consisting of mainly of pyrargyrite (high-level sulfosalt) and silver sulfides that potentially indicate the higher-level setting of a zoned epithermal system. Follow-up drilling is planned for later this year at the newly discovered zones of mineralization at Palenque and Tahures”.

ON MINING

  • Argonaut Gold Inc., reported Q2, 2022 production results from their Mexican mining operations. At El Castillo mine, Durango, Argonaut mined 1,471,000 tonnes of 0.30 g/t Au to produce 12,047 Oz Au and 10,407 Oz Ag (12,178 Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEOs)), and sold 11,463 Oz Au and 11,293 Oz Ag (11,603 GEOs) at a cash cost of  USD $1,513 per Oz Au sold. At San Agustin mine, Durango, the company mined 2,954,000 tonnes of 0.29 g/t Au to produce 18,033 Oz Au and 88,160 Oz Ag (19,135 GEOs), and sold 18,656 Oz Au and 93,420 Oz Ag (19,824 GEOs) at a cash cost of USD $1,009 per Oz Au sold. At La Colorada mine, Sonora, Argonaut mined 976,000 tonnes of 0.44 g/t Au to produce 12,950 Oz Au and 35,191 Oz Ag (13,390 GEOs), and sold 13,322 Oz Au and 38,194 Oz Ag (13,799 GEOs) at a cash cost of USD $1,003 per Oz Au sold.
  • Aura Minerals Inc., provided a production guidance for 2022 on its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas where it expects to produce between 115-120K Oz AuEq at cash cost between USD $645-690 per Oz AuEq produced.
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Avino mine, Durango. The company mined 118,224 tonnes to produce 225.5K Oz Ag, 1,350 Oz Au, and 1.64M Lb Cu (649.6K Oz AgEq), and sold 594.7K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of USD $8.39 and USD $15.95 respectively per Oz AgEq sold. Avino reported revenues of USD $9.4M; operating income of USD $3.9M; non-cash depreciation and depletion of USD $4.4M; net income of USD $2.3M; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) of USD $4.1M; adjusted earnings of USD $2.5M, operating cash flow (before working capital changes of USD $2.5M; and free cash flow of USD $1.5M. Cash balance reported at June 30, 2022 of USD $12.8M and working capital of USD $14.3M.
  • Capstone Copper Corp., reported Q2, 2022 production results from its Cozamin mine, Zacatecas. The company produced 14.33M Lb Cu at a cash cost of USD $1.25 per Lb Cu produced.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. At Guanacevi, Durango, Endeavour processed 94,017 tonnes to produce 1.19M payable Oz Ag and 3,680 payable Oz Au at cash cost of USD $10.35 per Oz Ag, total  production cost of USD $12.90 per Oz Ag, direct operating cost per tonne of USD $170.75, and direct cost per tonne of USD $201.84 . At Bolañitos mine, Guanajuato, the company processed 107,344 tonnes to produce 155.7K payable Oz Ag and 5,609 payable Oz Au at cash cost of USD $8.01 per Oz Ag, total production cost of USD $24.66 per Oz Ag, direct operating cost per tonne of USD $99.25, and  direct cost per tonne of USD $101.05. Consolidated results summarize 201.4K tonnes processed to produce 1.36M payable Oz Ag and 9.3K payable Oz Au (2.1M Oz AgEq) at cash cost of USD $10.18 per Oz Ag, AISC of USD $19.56 per Oz Ag, total production cost of USD $14.26 per Oz Ag, direct operating cost per tonne of USD $132.63, and direct cost per tonne of USD $148.11. The company reported revenues of USD $30.8M from 602.9K Oz Ag sold and 9.8K Oz Au sold at realized prices of USD $22.72 and USD $1,840 per Oz Ag and Oz Au respectively. It also reported a net earnings (loss) of USD $11.9M, adjusted earnings (loss) of USD $4.3M), mine operating earnings of USD $4.5M, mine operating cash flow before taxes of USD $8.8M, operating cash flow before working capital changes of USD $3.6M, and working capital of USD $149.7M.
  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., reported Q2. 2022 from its San Jose mine, Oaxaca. The company mined 251.9K tonnes of 187 g/t Ag and 1.13 g/t Au, both with metallurgical recoveries of 91% to produce 1.38 M Oz Ag and 8.3K Oz Au. Fortuna sold 1.42M Oz Ag and 8.6K Oz Au at realized prices of USD $22.56 and USD $1,873 per Oz Ag and Au respectively at a production cash cost per tonne of USD $83.57, production cash cost per Oz Ag Eq of USD $11 and AISC per Oz AgEq of USD $15.41.
  • Gatos Silver Inc., reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua. The company milled 211,350 tonnes of 374 g/t Ag, 0.38 g/t Au, 2.79% Pb, and 5.03% Zn with metallurgical recoveries of 90.4%, 48.9%, 90.5%, and 66.4% respectively to produce 2.3M Oz Ag, 1.27K Oz Au, 11.8M Lb Pb, and 15.6M Lb Zn. Gatos Silver reported unaudited sales of USD $57.2M, cost of sales of USD $27.8M, royalties of USD $1M, G & A expenses of USD 3.6M, other expenses of USD $0.7M, capital expenditures of USD $20.5M, and cash balance of USD $40M as of June 30, 2022.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Parral Tailings project, Chihuahua. The company produced 213.5K Oz Ag, 3,081 Oz Au, and 219.5K Lb Cu at a cash and AISC of USD $13.17 and USD $17.73 per Oz AgEq respectively. GoGold reported revenues of USD $10.4M from the sale of 512.7K Oz AgEq at a realized price of USD $20.26 per Oz AgEq. It also reported cost of sales including depreciation of USD $7.9M, operating income of USD $221K, net income of USD $1.1M, free cash before working capital changes of USD $3.7M, and cash of USD $73.8M.
  • Golden Minerals Company reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Rodeo mine, Durango. Golden produced 3,004 payable Oz Au and 12,768 payable Oz Ag (3,158 payable Oz AuEq) and sold 3,219 Oz AuEq at a realized price of USD $1,865 per Oz Au and USD $22.49 per Oz Ag. The total cash cost net of Ag byproduct credits was USD $1,426 per Oz AuEq. Golden reported revenues of USD $5.9M, net operating margin of USD $1.3M, cash and cash equivalent balance as of June 30, 2022 of USD $9.5M, and a net loss of 2.8M or USD $0.02 per share.
  • Orla Mining ltd., reported production and financial results from its Camino Rojo mine, Zacatecas. The company produced 25,672 Oz Au and sold 25,431 Oz Au at an average price of USD $1,872 per Oz, and cash and AISC of USD $439 and USD $601 respectively. Orla reported revenues of USD $47.8M, cost of sales-operating cost of USD $10.8M, adjusted earnings of USD $11M, cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital of USD $20.7M, free cash flow of USD $28.7M, cash and cash equivalents as at June 30, 2022 of USD $66.7M, and a net debt of USD $100.3M.
  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., reported Q2, 2022 production and financial results from its Las Chispas project, Sonora. The company milled 12,700 tonnes of low-grade from historic stockpiles. At the end of June, 2022 it produced its first precious metal pour consisting of 312Kg of doré with approximately 2,200 Oz Ag and 100 Oz Au. SilverCrest reported cash and cash equivalents of USD $118.6M remaining under a USD $120M project financing facility, a value-added taxes (IVA) receivable in Mexico of USD $26.3M, an inventory of USD $19.4M, and mineral property, plant and equipment of USD $200M.
  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation reported Q2, 2022 production results from its Cosala mine in Sinaloa. It produced 128K Oz Ag, 3.9M Lb Pb, and 9.9M Lb Zn. Americas provided 2022 production guidance and expect to produce between 0.7-0.9M Oz Ag, 13-15M Lb Pb, and 36-40M Lb Zn.

ON FINANCING

  • Advance Lithium Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to $200K. Gross proceeds will be used to advance its Sarape project in Sonora and for general corporate purposes.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., informed about an extension of its non-brokered private placement by 30 days starting this August 8, 2022 (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., reported a new Ag discovery SE of its San Marcial Resource Area on its wholly-owned Plomosas project, Sinaloa. Hole SMS22-10 encountered 308 g/t Ag, 0.02 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 101.6m, including 7,139 g/t Ag, 0.04 g/t Au, 1,6% Pb, and 1.3% Zn over 0.8m, plus 3,065 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn over 0.3m, plus 1,774 g/t Ag, 0.01 g/t Au, 0.1% Zn over 0.20m, plus 1,508 g/t Ag, 0.1% Zn over 0.2m, plus 1,285 g/t Ag, 0.04 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.5% Zn over 0.3m, plus 1,004 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 4.1m, plus 1,579 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, and 0.1% Zn over 0.4m, plus 1,017 g/t Ag, 0.15 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, and 0.7% Zn over 0.3m, plus 414 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, and 0.9% Zn over 16.2m, including 1,405 g/t Ag, 0.2 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb, and 1.9% Zn over 1.3m. “The hole was drilled 250 m to the SE of the San Marcial Resource Area, where the Company has been exploring the extension of the target contact between upper and lower volcanic units, which typically hosts the San Marcial Breccia Ag mineralization, together with strong ground magnetic anomalies delineated in 2021. This new, wide, high-grade silver discovery coincides with an inflexion in the NW-SE trending contact where it intersects with two key NE-SW trending faults. This defines a highly prospective target for continued drilling, both along strike and down dip”.
  • Pan American Silver Corp., reported Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources as at June 30, 2022 for their Mexican properties. At La Colorada, Zacatecas the company reported proven reserves of 3.8M tonnes with average grades of 340 g/t Ag and 0.23 g/t Au for a total of 41.5M Oz Ag and 27.5K Oz Au contained, and probable reserves of 6.2M tonnes with grades of 303 g/t Ag and 0.18 g/t Au for a total of 59.9M Oz Ag and 36K Oz Au contained. The company also reported measured resources of 1.9M tonnes with grades of 216 g/t Ag and 0.14 g/t Au for a total of 13M Oz Ag and 8.2K Oz Au, indicated resources of 3.4M tonnes with grades of 191 g/t Ag and 0.17 g/t Au for a total of 20.8M Oz Ag and 18K Oz Au contained, and inferred resources of 14.9M tonnes with grades of 195 g/t Ag and 0.2 g/t Au for a total of 93.9M Oz Ag and 98.4K Oz Au contained. At Dolores, Chihuahua, probable reserves reported are 4.1M tonnes of 18 g/t Ag and 0.6 g/t Au for a total of 2.4M Oz Ag and 77.7K Oz Au contained, while inferred resources are 2.5M tonnes with grades of 29 g/t Ag and 0.92 g/t Au for  a total of 2.4M Oz Ag and 74.4K Oz Au. At La Bolsa, Sonora, Pan American reported inferred resources of 13.7M tonnes with grades of 8 g/t Ag and 0.51 g/t Au for a total of 3.3M Oz Ag and 224.8K Oz Au contained. Reported mineral resources do not include amounts identified as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have no demonstrated economic viability.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp. released results from 26 new drill holes targeting the Tajitos-Copala resource area at its 100%-owned flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights include hole CS-22-191 with 133 g/t Ag and 0.48 g/t Au (158 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 1.39m, plus 706 g/t Ag and 4.93 g/t Au (1,011 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 12.52m, including 3,880 g/t Ag and 27.7 g/t Au (5,602 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.26m, plus 1,245 g/t Ag and 8.24 g/t Au (1,751 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.26m, plus 1,425 g/t Ag and 10.65 g/t Au (2,092 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.42m; hole CS-22-173 with 663 g/t Ag and 2.90 g/t Au (826 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 14.46m, including 1,375 g/t Ag and 7.19 g/t Au (1,796 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.78m, including 1,501 g/t Ag and 5.49 g/t Au (1,791 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.93m, plus 1,655 g/t Ag and 8.05 g/t Au (2,118 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.78m, plus 1,505 g/t Ag and 5.93 g/t Au (1,826 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.37m; hole CS-22-159 with 285 g/t Ag and 2.12 g/t Au (418 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 10.50m, including 493 g/t Ag and 18.3 g/t Au (1,775 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.56m, plus 1,025 g/t Ag and 4.61 g/t Au (1,285 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.71m; and hole CS-22-181 with 165 g/t Ag and 0.52 g/t Au (191 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.70m, plus 832 g/t Ag and 3.85 g/t Au (1,051 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 3.44m, including 1,725 g/t Ag and 11 g/t Au (2,396 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.68, plus 1,501 g/t Ag and 4.98 g/t Au (1,754 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.81m.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Prismo Metals Inc., announced that its common shares are now eligible for electronic clearing and settlement in the United States through the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”). It will simplify the process of trading and enhance liquidity of Prismo shares in the United States. The Company’s shares recently began trading on the OTCQB® Venture Market (“OTCQB”) under the ticker symbol PMOMF (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa).
  • Consolidated Zinc Limited made several management changes. The company announced the retirement and replacement of its non-executive Chairman, the appointment of a new member of its Board of Directors, and the appointment of its Exploration Manager. All Board changes are effective September 1, 2022 (Plomosas mine, Chihuahua).
  • Advance Lithium Corp., sold its royalty on three claims in Kenya to Orogen Royalties Inc., for USD $120K and the transfer of the 100% ownership of the Sarape property, Sonora. Orogen will retain a 1.5% royalty on the Sarape property.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., amended the schedule on the final payment of its option agreement for 100% of the Columba high-grade silver project, Chihuahua. The amended agreement splits the final November 2022 payment into a series of payments due in August, November, December 2022 and January, April, and May of 2023. Payments range from USD $215K (August 2022 and May 2023) to USD $480K (November 2022) and USD $430K (December 2022, January, and April 2023).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • First Majestic Silver Corp., released its 2021 Sustainability report summarizing the Company´s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. CEO of the company stated that their effort in 2021 demonstrated their commitment to sustainability and to improving lives and communities in our host regions while increasing shareholder value, as well as driving positive changes for society and delivering long-term benefits for all First majestic shareholders.
  •  Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., and Fresnillo plc promote entrepreneurs providing tools to micro and small entrepreneurs from the communities neighboring their operations through a training and advisory program for the strengthening and creation of proudly local and Mexican companies. Both Peñoles and Fresnillo plc have given nearly 249 workshops for entrepreneurs, with the support of the social organization ProEmpleo. In parallel, the companies and the organization work on the abilities and skills of the participants who seek the continuity of their projects and reinforce them with actions to make them competitive in their local environment. To date, more than 3,800 people have benefited and 203 new companies have been created, which in turn generated 534 direct jobs; 74% of the total number of companies created continue to operate.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, a banded calcite vein with Manganese Oxides from an intermediate sulphidation epithermal vein system in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of June, 2022. 

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Hydrothermal breccia cemented by MnOx.

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 24thweek of the year (June 13th to June 19th, 2022), at least 16 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 7 news were published by the media, with five informing on exploration results, four reporting resources and developments of their properties, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, four discussing social issues, three announcing financing issues, and three commenting on Mexican issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Arcelor Mittal announced that the strike broke out by the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Similar Workers of the Mexican Republic will affect the economy of Michoacan.  With the strike carried out by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and his miners in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan to the company Arcelor Mittal Mexico, they managed to jump the “cap” in the payment of utilities. The first International Mining Women’s Day was commemorated. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Aztec-Kootenay JV reported final results from 2021-2022 RC drilling program on its Cervantes project, Colibri announced that its Phase 1 RC drilling program has been completed at its Evelyn project, and Prismo completed a LiDAR survey at its Los Pavitos project. In Coahuila, Monumental released sampling results from its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements project. In Sinaloa, Prismo informed that it plans to drill a minimum of 2,000m at its Palos Verdes project. ON FINANCING, Prismo reached an agreement to exercise a total of up to 6,821,250 outstanding founder warrants for gross proceeds of $682,125 (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa). Radius announced that it receives the final USD $700K option cash payment from Pan American Silver in order to earn its option for 65% of the Amalia property in Chihuahua. SilverCrest reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Las Chispas project, Sonora). Silver Wolf closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $602,160 (Ana Maria project, Durango). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Avino released results from Phase 2 of its 2021/2022 drilling program conducted at its Avino project, Durango. Silver Dollar reported initial results from the Phase II drilling ongoing program conducted at its La Joya project in Durango. Silver Tiger announced drilling results from the Sooy Vein at its El Tigre project, Sonora. Sonoro completed Phase IV drilling program at its Cerro Caliche project, Sonora.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Gatos silver announced the pass away of one of its Directors (Cerro Los Gatos, Chihuahua). Sierra Metals announced the appointment of a new member as Chair of its Board of Directors (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua). Silverton announced the appointment of its new CEO and Director (Peñasco Quemado project, Sonora). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Peñoles recognized the academic performance of sixteen young students of the Laguna del Rey Center for Technical Studies. Esperanza Silver de México, responsible for the Esperanza mining project, signed a collaboration agreement with the Zacatepec Technological Institute. Minera Cuzcatlán adopted a wastewater treatment plant in Ocotlán, Oaxaca. Industrias Peñoles announced the summer activities that will take place during June and July at the Community Center and in the Metals Museum.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Arcelor Mittal announced that the strike broke out by the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Similar Workers of the Mexican Republic will affect the economy of Michoacan and the metallurgical sector. The strike will have an impact and serious consequences in the short, medium and long term on labor and economic stability in the Lázaro Cárdenas region, in the state of Michoacán, in the production chain and in the country´s economy.
  • With strike, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and his miners managed to jump the “cap” in the payment of utilities. With the work stoppage carried out by mining workers from section 271 in Lázaro Cárdenas Michoacán to the company Arcelor Mittal Mexico, on June 15, they managed to eliminate the “cap” on the payment of utilities that was included with the labor reform in April of 2021. This is not the first union organization to take action to pressure the company to grant a higher amount in the payment of utilities.
  • The first International Mining Women’s Day was commemorated. This June 15 marks the first World Mining Women’s Day as an initiative of the International Organization “Women in Mining”. Engaging the Women Mining Community, the International Day of Women in Mining will showcase the experiences, hopes and aspirations about the industry, and celebrate the personal achievements of women in the industry.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Aztec Minerals Corp – Kootenay Silver Inc. JV reported final results from 2021-2022 RC drilling program on its Cervantes project in Sonora. The program comprised 5,249 meters in 26 RC drill holes, testing 4 targets (Purisima East, California, Jasper, and California North). Hole CAL-22-018 drilled at California target intersected a high pyrite zone anomalous in copper, molybdenum, gold and silver that corresponds well with the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly. It encountered 0.22 g/t Au over 24.32m, plus 0.27 g/t Au over 10.64m, and 0.062% Cu over 68.4m, 1 g/t Ag over 28.88m, and 122 ppm Mo over 39.52m.
  • Colibri Resource Corporation announced that its Phase 1 RC drilling program has been completed at its Evelyn project in Sonora. The Phase 1 drill program consisted of 6,547m in 45 holes. Drill results from the first 22 holes were released previously and assays are pending for the remaining 23 holes.
  • Prismo Metals Inc., recently completed a LiDAR survey conducted over almost 40 square kilometers at its Los Pavitos project in Sonora. The company expects to receive the analysis of the LiDAR results in a few weeks to aid in the delineation of important structural trends and complete the work to identify drill targets this summer.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., released results from 21 samples collected at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements project. Seven out of 21 samples returned values greater than 0.15% total rare earth oxide (TREO), including three samples that returned values greater than 0.25% TREO, and up to 0.54% TREO. “The assay results confirm that samples with the highest rare earth element content are those rocks that are classified as peralkaline (sodium plus potassium concentrations are greater than aluminum concentrations”. In addition, a single rock grab sample collected in the eastern claim area returned values of 13.5% Zn and 6.8% Pb and is classified as carbonate replacement-style mineralization.
  • Prismo Metals Inc., informed that it plans to drill a minimum of 2,000m at its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa to test mineralization at depth under the high-grade intercepts from previous drilling campaigns.

ON MINING

  • No relevant news.

ON FINANCING

  • Prismo Metals Inc., reached an agreement to exercise a total of up to 6,821,250 outstanding founder warrants for gross proceeds of $682,125. Gross proceeds will be primarily used to drill a minimum of 2,000m at its Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa. Prismo also expects to use some of the proceeds to finalize surface exploration work on its Los Pavitos project in Sonora.
  • Radius Gold Inc., announced that it receives the final USD $700K option cash payment from Pan American Silver Corp., in order to earn its option for 65% of the Amalia property in Chihuahua.
  • Silver Wolf Exploration Ltd., closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $602,160. Net proceeds will be used for financing the ongoing drill program at its Ana Maria project in Durango, and for general working capital requirements.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., released results from phase 2 of its 2021/2022 drilling program conducted at its Avino project, Durango. Six underground holes were completed below the current level 17 mining area to define the continuity of economic mineralization at depth in the central part of the vein. Selected high grade intercepts include hole ET-22-01 with 0.06 g/t Au, 34 g/t Ag, and 0.66% Cu (127 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 0.80m on HW BX, including 0.12 g/t Au, 199 g/t Ag, and 2.75% Cu (577 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.10m, and 0.14 g/t Au, 21 g/t Ag, and 0.54% Cu (104 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 23.10m on HW STW, including 0.66 g/t Au, 759 g/t Ag, and 2.90% Cu (1,202 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.19m, including 1.35 g/t Au, 98 g/t Ag, and 1.92% Cu (466 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.34m, including 0.46 g/t Au, 72 g/t Ag, and 2.42% Cu (434 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.29m, including 0.15 g/t Au, 77 g/t Ag, and 3.17% Cu (514 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.24m, and 0.20 g/t Au, 61 g/t Ag, and 0.96% Cu (206 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 41m on Avino Vein, including 0.31 g/t Au, 71 g/t Ag, and 2.42% Cu (421 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.56m, including 0.09 g/t Au, 482 g/t Ag, and 1.40% Cu (678 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.75m, including 2.05 g/t Au, 99 g/t Ag, and 4.73% Cu (901 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.56m, including 2.75 g/t Au, 831 g/t Ag, and 3.82% Cu (1,568 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.19m, including 1.39 g/t Au, 246 g/t Ag, and 2.27% Cu (664 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.75, including 4.37 g/t Au, 1,234 g/t Ag, and 21.90% Cu (4,527 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.19m; and hole ET 21-08 with 0.28 g/t Au, 11 g/t Ag, and 0.6% Cu (112 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.94m on HW BX and 0.53 g/t Au, 41 g/t Ag, and 1.06% Cu (226 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 30m on Avino Vein, including 5.58 g/t Au, 86 g/t Ag, and 0.56% Cu (617 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.65m. “The drilling results have confirmed the down dip continuity of widths and grades of the Avino vein extending significant potential to a depth of at least 290 metre down dip below current development”.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., reported initial results from 4 holes of the phase II drilling ongoing program at the unexplored La Noria portion of its La Joya project in Durango. Significant intersections were encountered in hole NOR-22-013 with 90 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au, 0.08% Cu, 0.4% Pb, and 1% Zn (198 g/t AgEq) over 43,12m, including 192 g/t Ag, 0.27 g/t Au, 0.06% Cu, 1% Pb, and 2.2% Zn (363 g/t AgEq) over 19.35m, including 451 g/t Ag, 0.62 g/t Au, 0.07% Cu, 2.3% Pb, and 4.6% Zn (815 g/t AgEq) over 5m; and hole NOR-22-015 with 23 g/t Ag, 0.26 g/t Au, 0.07% Cu, 0.03% Pb, and 5.6% Zn (319 g/t AgEq) over 23.2m. To date, a total of 1,899m over 10 holes have been drilled in Phase II. Assay results are pending for the remaining 6 holes.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., announced drilling results from the Sooy Vein at its El Tigre project, Sonora. Highlights drill intercepts include hole ET-21-300 with 0.06 g/t Au, 239 g/t Ag, 0.3% Cu, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn (281 g/t AgEq) over 4.9m, including 0.24 g/t Au, 2,230 g/t Ag, 2.85% Cu, 0.7% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (2,565 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m; and hole ET-21-289 with 0.12 g/t Au, 901 g/t Ag, 0.61% Cu, 3.1% Pb, 7.3% Zn (1,286 g/t AgEq) over 0.6m. The company also reported that over 370m of rehabilitation in Level 7 of the historic El Tigre mine have been completed. 
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., completed Phase IV drilling program at its Cerro Caliche project, Sonora, and reported results from the final seven holes. The company completed over 7,200m in 63 holes which returned multiple higher-grade gold intercepts and demonstrated the expansion of several known mineralized gold zones within the Cerro Caliche concession.  Highlights drill intercepts include hole SCR-321 with 1.34 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag (1.38 g/t AuEq) over 15.24m, including 3.66 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag (3.73 g/t AuEq) over 4.57m, plus 1.1 g/t Au and 0.8 g/t Ag (1.11 g/t AuEq) over 1.52m; and hole SCR-322 with 0.78 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag (0.81 g/t AuEq) over 18.29m, including 4.88 g/t Au and 20 g/t Ag (4.97 g/t AuEq) over 1.52m. “Drilling results from the now completed Phase IV campaign will be included in an updated resource estimation scheduled to be announced in the fall of 2022. The economic impact of the updated resource on the proposed heap leach mining operation is also to be assessed and will be contemplated in a further technical report”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Gatos Silver Inc., announced the pass away of one of its independent non-executive Directors (Cerro Los Gatos, Chihuahua).
  • Sierra Metals Inc., announced the appointment of a new member as Chair of its Board of Directors (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua).
  • Silverton Metals Corp., announced the appointment of its new CEO and Director (Peñasco Quemado project, Sonora).
  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Las Chispas project, Sonora).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Servicios Industriales Peñoles recognized the academic performance of sixteen young students of the Laguna del Rey Center for Technical Studies. The outstanding students are about to conclude their theoretical instruction as technical professionals, to then go on to put their knowledge into practice for an entire semester by joining the work teams of different mining units in different states of the Republic, with the possibility of in the end, they will be formally hired.
  • Esperanza Silver de México S.A. de C.V., responsible for the Esperanza mining project, signed a collaboration agreement with the Zacatepec Technological Institute, which will allow students from this important professional training institution in the state of Morelos, to carry out their professional residences at Minera Esperanza Silver.
  • Minera Cuzcatlán (Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.), adopted a wastewater treatment plant in Ocotlán, Oaxaca. The Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP ) located in the municipality of Ocotlán de Morelos supplies 80% of the water it uses in its processes and the rest is obtained from rainwater harvested through a canal system
  • Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., announced the summer activities that will take place during June and July at the Community Center and in the Metals Museum. 

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, a hydrothermal breccia cemented by Mn Ox in an epithermal vein system, in Durango, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of June, 2022. 

/ gambusinoprospectormexico / Leave a comment

Cu silicates (chrysocolla)

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 22ndweek of the year (May 30th to June 5th, 2022), at least 19 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with seven reporting resources and developments of their properties, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, two communicating production and financial results, two announcing financing issues, two commenting on Mexican issues, and two informing on exploration results. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Advance Lithium provided an update on the recent mining law changes. Prime Mining, Vizsla Silver and Zacatecas Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of June, 2022. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Benjamin Hill reported drill results from the El Fierro Zone at its Sonora Gold project, Sonora. In Coahuila, Monumental announced plans for follow-up exploration work at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth project.  ON MINING, Santacruz reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. Minera Alamos reported Q1, 2022 financial results from its Santana project, Sonora. ON FINANCING, Reyna Silver announced a brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M (Guigui and Batopilas projects, Chihuahua). Alamos Gold declared a quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share (Mulatos mine, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Zacatecas Silver commenced its work plans to prepare a current resource estimate at its Esperanza project, Morelos. Discovery Silver reported positive metallurgical results and provided an update on its flagship Cordero project, Chihuahua. Prime reported additional phase 2 drill results from 12 step out drill holes at the Guadalupe East deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Magna Gold filed an independent technical report for its Margarita project, Chihuahua. Minera Alamos provided an update on the continuing progress at its Santana project in Sonora. Vizsla reported results from eighteen new holes drilled at the southern extension of the Napoleon Vein at its flagship Panuco project, Sinaloa.  Zacatecas Silver released results from the Panuco Norte drilling program at its Zacatecas project, Zacatecas. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Azure entered into a binding sale agreement to sell its subsidiary companies that own and operate its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources for a combination of cash and shares valued at A $20M. Silverton entered into a share purchase agreement with Zapata to acquire the Margaritas property in Durango. Pantera Silver announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Nuevo Taxco project, Guerrero). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

Advance Lithium Corp., provided an update on the recent mining law changes that states that all the activities related to the exploration, exploitation and profit of lithium shall be the responsibility of the yet to be formed national lithium company. Advance has identified large zones of lithium, potassium and boron mineralization at their claims which are in good standing, with work completed and all legal filings in order. It should be noted that the analysis of the company’s deposits show that the composition of the mineralization is approximately equal parts lithium and potassium. While lithium is covered by this new legislation in Mexico, potassium is not. The potential of near term production of both lithium and potassium products puts the Company in a unique position with its salars/salt lakes deposits and looks forward to discussing the lithium opportunities with the newly formed Mexican national lithium company.

  • Prime Mining, Vizsla Silver and Zacatecas Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of June, 2022. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION
·         Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., reported drill results from the El Fierro Zone at its Sonora Gold project, Sonora. This drill program explored for the presence and continuity of metallic mineralization found in outcroppings at surface, in epithermal veins, skarn zones and hydrothermal breccias, as well as for possible magmatic source of mineralization as indicated by chargeability highs. Drilling highlights include hole SGB-22-23 with 0.25% Cu over 1.25m; hole SGB-22-24 with 0.67% Cu over 1.25m; hole SGB-22-26 with 0.39 g/t Au over 0.95m, plus 0.26% Cu over 1.45m; and hole SFB-22-21 with 3.54% Cu over 3m, including 10% Cu, 2.11 g/t Au and 52 g/t Ag over 0.6m.
·         Monumental Minerals Corp., announced plans for follow-up exploration work at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth project. The follow-up work program will be divided in two phases. The first phase will consists of detailed geological mapping and collection of structural data, along with a ground radiometric survey to identify drill targets. The second phase will consists of a stream sediment geochemical survey to assess areas within and beyond the 8km2 area of highest priority.
ON MINING
·         Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. The company processed 191,413 tonnes to produce 901.2K Oz AgEq. It sold 872.7K Oz AgEq and reported cash and All Included Sustaining Costs (AISC) of USD $17.04 and USD $23.38 per Oz AgEq sold respectively.
·         Minera Alamos Inc., announced Q1, 2022 financial results from its Santana project, Sonora. The company reported revenues of CAD $5.16M from approximately 65% of its gold production (the remaining gold was sold post quarter end); income from operation of CAD $1.53M; a net income of CAD $1.06M; and cash and cash equivalents of CAD $8,17M.
ON FINANCING
·         Reyna Silver Corp., announced a brokered private placement with Red Cloud Securities Inc. (the “Agent”), for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M. The Agent will have an option, exercisable in full or in part up to 48 hours prior to the closing of the Offering, to sell up to an additional 2,777,778 Units at the Offering Price for additional gross proceeds of up to CAD $M. The company plans to use part of the gross proceeds to explore their Guigui and Batopilas projects in Chihuahua.
·         Alamos Gold Inc., declared a quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share. The Company has paid dividends for 13 consecutive years during which time USD $264M has been returned to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, including USD $27M thus far in 2022. This includes 1M shares repurchased under the normal course issuer bid in May 2022 at a cost of USD $7.4M, or USD $7.42 per share. The dividend is payable on June 30, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 16, 2022 (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
·         Zacatecas Silver Corp., commenced its work plans to prepare a current resource estimate at its Esperanza project, Morelos. The Esperanza project has a historical resource estimate of a measured and indicated resource of 34,352,000 tonnes of 0.98 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag for 1.08M Oz Au and 8.9M Oz Ag and an inferred resource of 718,000 tonnes of 0.80 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag for 18.4K Oz Au and 347.2K Oz Ag. Measured and indicated resources are 1.22M Oz AuEq of 1.11 g/t AuEq. Immediate steps to confirm resource estimate include: Extensive verification through sampling at least 10% of the historical drill core and new metallurgical test work by SGS Minerals. Additionally, the company is to commence work to identify and prioritize expansion and exploration targets throughout the project.
·         Discovery Silver Corp., reported positive metallurgical results and provided an update on its flagship Cordero project, Chihuahua. Initial results from the metallurgical testwork showed recoveries typically ranging from 90-95% for Ag, Pb, and Zn from very coarse grind size and with lower reagent consumption than what was assumed earlier. The company also announced the project study team for the Pre-Feasibility Study on Cordero project, in which plans to release an updated resource estimate in Q4, 2022. The updated resource estimate will be based on a total of 283,000m in 683 drill holes.
·         Prime Mining Corp., reported additional phase 2 drill results from 12 step out drill holes at the Guadalupe East deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Highlights drill intercepts include hole 22GE-53 with 9.67 g/t Au and 314 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 0.80m, plus 3.01 g/t Au and 220 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.90m, plus 13.65 g/t Au and 311 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.50m, plus 61.99 g/t Au and 978 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.10m, including 200 g/t Au and 2,830 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.90m, plus 5.90 g/t Au and 341 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.60m; hole 22GE-48 with 2.93 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.90m, including 4.41 g/t Au and 105 g/t Ag over a TW of 2m, plus 1.16 g/t Au and 79 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.40m, plus 1.78 g/t Au and 82 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.50m, plus 4.29 g/t Au and 125 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.40m, plus 1.62 g/t Au and 120 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.1m, plus 1.24 g/t Au and 88 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.10m, plus 3.19 g/t Au and 34 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.10m, plus  2.31 g/t Au and 98 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.40m, including 3.68 g/t Au and 161 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.80m; hole 22GE-45 with 12.79 g/t Au and 300 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.50m, including 16.96 g/t Au and 392 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.80m; hole 22GE-51 with 3.01 g/t Au and 161 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.60m; and hole 22GE-46 with 1.95 g/t Au and 155 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.30m, including 3.11 g/t Au and 249 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.30m.
·         Magna Gold Corp., filed an independent technical report for its Margarita project, Chihuahua, dated May 24, 2022, with an effective date of April 8, 2022. The technical report contains an initial mineral resource estimate.
·         Minera Alamos Inc., provided an update on the continuing progress at its Santana project in Sonora. The company announced that the development of the Nicho Main Zone is now underway with haulage and access road largely completed. First mineralized material should be stacked on the Santana leach pad as operation move into the second half of the year. At Nicho Norte, the gold mined and stacked on the leach pad to date total approximately 18K Oz with roughly 7K Oz recovered in concentrate.
·         Vizsla Silver Corp., reported results from eighteen new holes drilled at the southern extension of the Napoleon Vein at its flagship Panuco project, Sinaloa. Drilling highlights include hole NP-22-258 with 1,139 g/t Ag, 11.48 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (2,098 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 4.30m; hole NP-22-271 with 223 g/t Ag, 2.76 g/t Au, 1.5% Pb, and 5% Zn (677 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 7m, including 789 g/t Ag, 18.5 g/t Au, 5.7% Pb, and 11.7% Zn (2,871 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.46m, including 343 g/t Ag, 5.11 g/t Au, 1.7% Pb, and 2.9% Zn (909 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.61m, including 403 g/t Ag, 5.04 g/t Au, 1% Pb, and 4% Zn (985 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.91m, including 191 g/t Ag, 1.12 g/t Au, 2.9% Pb, and 10.9% Zn (774 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.99m; hole NP-22-277 with 151 g/t Ag, 2.63 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.5% Zn (389 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 7m, including 315 g/t Ag, 2.32 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.4% Zn (524 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.5m. including 630 g/t Ag, 4.94 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, and 0.5% Zn (1,055 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.75m, including 189 g/t Ag, 2.7 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb, and 1.8% Zn (495 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.79m; and hole NP-22-281 with 202 g/t Ag, 1.55 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb, and 1.1% Zn (387 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 5.4m, including 1,275 g/t Ag, 6.25 g/t Au, 3.5% Pb, and 4% Zn (2,2027 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.34m, including 398 g/t Ag, 3.75 g/t Au, 1.9% Pb, and 2.7% Zn (855 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.84m, including 386 g/t Ag, 3.09 g/t Au, 1.8% Pb, and 2.5% Zn (779 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.59m. These results are part of the ongoing 12,000m resource/discovery-based drill program.
·         Zacatecas Silver Corp., released results from the Panuco Norte drilling program at its Zacatecas project, Zacatecas. Drilling highlights include hole PAN2022-057 with 224 g/t Ag and 0.15 g/t Au (224 g/t AgEq) over 1.83m; hole PAN2022-56 with 151 g/t Ag and 0.16 g/t Au (163 g/t AgEq) over 3.71m; and hole PAN2022-61 with 231 g/t Ag and 0.22 g/t Au (248 g(/t AgEq) over 1.28m. The Company has now completed 63 drill holes at Panuco North for a total of 7,240 meters. “Drilling in the eastern and central part of the Panuco North Vein has now intercepted near-surface mineralization over a strike length of 700 m, with the vein remaining open along strike and open at depth. Assay results from 22 Panuco North holes are pending”.
ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES
·         Azure Minerals Limited entered into a binding sale agreement to sell its subsidiary companies that own and operate its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources for a combination of cash and shares valued at A $20M, consisting of A $10M cash and A $10M shares in Bendito. The portfolio consists of eight properties, but Alacrán, Oposura, and Promontorio projects will form the core assets of Bendito, all located within the Laramide Copper Province in N-NW Mexico. Alacrán, in Sonora State, hosts the high-grade Mesa de Plata silver deposit and adjacent Loma Bonita gold-silver deposit which together contain 32 M Oz Ag and 150K Oz Au in JORC Mineral Resources. A Scoping Study / Preliminary Economic Assessment on Oposura, in Sonora State,showed robust results for a high-quality, high-grade massive sulphide Zn-Pg-Ag development opportunity. The project holds significant exploration upside for resource expansion. At Promontorio, Chihuahua, Azure established a high-grade, near-surface Cu-Au-Ag resource and identified prospectivity for an underlying copper porphyry system.
·         Silverton Metals Corp., entered into a share purchase agreement with Zapata Exploration Ltd., to acquire the Margaritas property in Durango by acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Zapata´s Mexican subsidiary, Impulsora de Proyectos Mineros S.A. de C.V. The Margaritas property comprises two mining concessions totalling 500 hectares, and consists of a 3.5km long and 240m of vertical extension of an under-explored, high-grade epithermal vein system hosted in productive volcanic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental. This vein system has returned grades up to 73.7 g/t Au in dump samples and 31.6 g/t Au in rock chip channel samples with grades between 1-38 g/t Ag. To acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Impulsora, Silverton has agreed to issue 750K common shares and grant a net smelter return royalty of 0.5%, which may be repurchased at a price of USD $250K.
·         Pantera Silver Corp., announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors. In addition, the Board of Directors of the Company has authorized the granting of incentive stock options under its Stock Option Plan to purchase 300K common shares of the Company at an exercise price of CAD $0.20 per share for a five-year term expiring June 1, 2027. The stock options are being granted to certain directors and advisors of the Company (Nuevo Taxco project, Guerrero).
ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
·         No relevant news.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, Cu silicates (chrysocolla) in a Carbonate Replacement Deposit in Durango, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of May, 2022. 

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Phyllic alteration

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 18th week of the year (May 2nd to May 8th, 2022), at least 23 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 6 news published by the media, with ten reporting resources and developments of their properties, six commenting on Mexican issues, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, four informing on exploration results, three communicating production and financial results, and two discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Torex Gold announced the investment of USD $848M to develop its Media Luna project in Guerrero. Expo Minero Chihuahua 2022 closed its doors with the attendance of 15,610 people. Arcelor Mittal announced that it will invest USD $150M to boost the iron mining in Michoacán. According to Miner Deck, one company working in Mexico participated in the best eight gold intercepts of the week, and two in the best seven silver intercepts of the week. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Aztec Minerals-Kootenay JV released results from California and Jasper targets within its Cervantes project, and Canuc provided an update on its exploration program at its San Javier project. In Chihuahua, Kootenay announced that it will commence a 15,000m drilling program at its Columba project. In Coahuila, Monumental announced the results of a geophysical survey recently completed at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements project. ON MINING, Altaley reported Q4, and full year 2021 production and financial results from its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero. Coeur Mining reported Q1, 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. Santacruz reported Q4 and full year 2021 consolidated production and financial results from their Mexican operation mines. ON FINANCING, no relevant news.  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Capitan Mining released results from 5 RC holes collared at its Jesus Maria Silver Zone at the Cruz de Plata project (former Peñoles project) in Durango. Zacatecas Silver received permits for 30 drill pads at El Cristo Vein System within its Zacatecas property. Sonoro Gold filed an Environmental Impact Statement or Manifestación de Impacto Ambiental (MIA) for its Cerro Caliche property in Sonora.  Orex-Pan American Silver JV received a permit to drill 2,500-3,000m at its Sandra project in Durango. Southern Silver reported drilling results from its Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango. Silver Dollar released the remaining assay results from the phase 1 drilling program completed at its la Joya project in Durango. Sierra Madre reported results of the last four holes collared at its Tepic project in Nayarit. Golden Tag announced results from 2 holes drilled at its San Diego project in Durango. Guanajuato Silver reported drill results from its ongoing exploration programs at its El Cubo mine and El Pinguico projects in Guanajuato. Prime Mining announced new results from 17 holes drilled at Zapote North and Mariposa areas within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Golden Minerals announced the appointment of its COO (Rodeo project, Durango). Vizsla announced the appointments of its COO and VP of Exploration (Panuco project, Sinaloa). Orogen and the Riverside-BHP JV signed an option agreement for the Llano de Nogal project in Sonora. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Esperanza Silver de México obtained the support of the Tetlama community in Morelos for the Esperanza project. Alamos Gold has generated 2,200 new jobs in the last two years for the construction of its La Yaqui Grande mine in Sonora.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., announced the investment of USD $848M to develop its Media Luna project in Guerrero to bring it into commercial production by the end of 2024. The initial capital investment in the Media Luna Project includes USD $85M of underground mine development during the pre-commercial mining period, between Q4, 2023 and Q4, 2024. The initial capital required to develop the Media Luna Project excludes USD $124M of direct project expenses incurred before April 1, 2022, of which USD $37M are related to the Guajes Tunnel and USD $28M to the development of the Upper and Lower South Portal. Of the direct expenses of the project, the largest capital expenditures are related to the development of the underground mine (USD $173M), access to the deposit through the Guajes Tunnel (USD $76M), as well as the Upper and Lower South Portal (USD $40M), improvements to the process plant (USD $98M) and tailings/paste plant (USD $78M). Of indirect expenses, the largest components are contingency costs (USD $100M).
  • Expo Minero Chihuahua 2022 closed its doors with the attendance of 15,610 people. For four days, from April 28 to May 1, the attendees learned about the importance of the mining industry in the development of Mexico and its usefulness in everyday life.
  • Arcelor Mittal Mexico announced that it will invest USD $150M to boost the iron mining in Michoacán. The company also stated that it will increase the domestic rolled steel production from 2.5M to 5.3M tonnes.
  • According to Miner Deck, one company working in Mexico was in the best eight drill intercepts of the week.  Aztec Minerals-Kootenay JV was eight with 136.8m @ 1.486 g/t Au at Cervantes project in Sonora.
  • According to Miner Deck, two of the best silver drill intercepts of the week were drilled by companies working in Mexico. Golden Tag was first with 395m @ 35 g/t Ag at San Diego project in Durango, and Capitan Mining was seventh with 16.8m @ 291 g/t Ag at Cruz de Plata project in Durango.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Aztec Minerals Corp – Kootenay Silver Inc. JV released results from the California and Jasper targets within its Cervantes project in Sonora. Drilling highlights include hole JAS22-001 with 0.33 g/t Au over 9.1m, with 150m visible Cu oxides and secondary sulphides in mineralized quartz feldspar porphyry intrusive, sediments and hydrothermal breccia; hole CAL22-017 with 0.31 g/t Au over 24.3m, and 1.65 g/t Au over 6.1m in mineralized quartz feldspar porphyry intrusive, sediments and hydrothermal breccia; hole CAL22-016 with 0.47 g/t Au over 56.2m, and 0.35 g/t Au over 13.7m in mineralized porphyries and hydrothermal breccia; and hole CAL22-015 with 0.42 g/t Au over 68.4m, and 2.25 g/t Au over 10.6m in mineralized porphyries and hydrothermal breccia. These drill results extended the known mineralized zone at depth and over 350m to the north onto the California North target and also to the south on the eastern end of the California zone. The company reported that the phase 2 RC drilling program at the Cervantes property is completed and consisted of 26 holes totalling 4,649m.
  • Canuc Resources Corporation provided an update on its exploration program at its San Javier project in Sonora. On the Silver Mountain Zone, the 63-sample grid covered the central part of a NE-SW trending magnetic high in the north part of the San Javier project area. Within the soil grid, samples ranging from 5,123 to 36,671 ppb Ag (5 to 36 g/t) define a 50 to 100 m wide trend that extends for approximately 300 m across the grid. Only 7 of the 63 samples collected contained less that 1 g/t Ag and. The Ag anomaly is accompanied by a modest Au anomaly having values ranging from 38.6 to 87.5 ppb within a relatively high 2.0 to 32.5 background. Only 9 samples contained less than 5.0 ppb Au. On the Gold Zone, the company excavated 3,295m of trenches ranging from 65m to 638m in width. From these trenches, 1,829 channel samples have been collected and additional 46 samples have been collected from various locations within the trend. Results have been reported only on the first 3 trenches which returned elevated gold and copper values. Sampling results are still pending for the rest of the trenches. On the Copper-Gold Stockwork Zone, a total of 22 samples were collected from 3 locations on the north flank of a donut shaped magnetic high in the north–central part of the property. Average grade of the sampling is 0.38% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au, and 3.9 g/t Ag. Canuc plans to cover with soil samples the southwest extension of the strong Ag anomaly referred as Silver Anomaly target; to carry out a detailed mapping on at least 40 know mineralized zones within the property, as well as along the 11 trenches excavated across the Gold Zone, and in the area of the Stockwork Copper-Gold Zone, to provide necessary information in advance of drilling.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., announced that it will commence a 15,000m drilling program at its Columba project in Chihuahua. Initial focus of this program will be on deeper drill testing on the F Vein and expanding on the D and B Vein intercepts, as well as explore the JZ Zone located 700 meters east of the F Vein; and the East Block located 200 meters east form the JZ Zone.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., announced the results of a heli-borne magnetic, radiometric, and very-low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) geophysical survey recently completed at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) project in Coahuila. The geophysical survey confirmed that a significantly larger area of the property is prospective for HREE (from approximately 1 km to 10 km of prospective strike length), and defined two parallel 8 km arcuate anomalies that occur along the south and west margin of the Sierra La Vasca intrusion complex. The company announced that the next step is to carry out a rapid evaluation and prioritization of targets for diamond drill testing.

ON MINING

  • Altaley Mining Corporation reported Q4, and full year 2021 production and financial results from its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero. In Q4, 2021 the company processed 183,091 tonnes to produce 12,209 tonnes of Zn concentrate grading 46% Zn with metallurgical recovery of 71%, and 2,691 tonnes of Pb concentrate grading 22% Pb with metallurgical recovery of 30% respectively, at cash and all in sustaining cost (AISC) of USD $0.74 and USD $0.95 per Lb Zn respectively. Altaley reported gross revenues of CAD $29.7M, mine operating profit of CAD $10.1M, income for the period of CAD $20.6M, and cash of CAD $3.04M. In the full year 2021, the company processed 689,963 tonnes to produce 45,778 tonnes of Zn concentrate grading 46% Zn, 2.12 g/t Au, and 658 g/t Ag, with metallurgical recovery of 71% for Zn, and 9,936 tonnes of Pb concentrate grading 22%, 1.65% Cu, 6.08 g/t Au, and 776 g/t Ag, with metallurgical recovery of 29% for Pb, at cash and AISC of USD $0.60 and USD $0.83 per Lb Pb respectively. Altaley reported gross revenues of CAD $98.4M, mine operating profit of CAD $34.25M, income for the period of CAD $36.26M, and cash of CAD $3.04M.
  • Coeur Mining Inc., reported Q1, 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. The company milled 565,211 tonnes of 1.74 g/t Au and 120 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 90.6% and 83% respectively to produce 28.9K Oz Au and 1.8M Oz Ag. It sold 28.2K Oz Au and 1.79M Oz Ag during the Q1, 2022 period. Coeur reported metal sales of USD $83.1M; cost applicable to sales of USD $730 and USD $12.43 per Oz Au and Oz Ag respectively; cash flow from operating activities of USD $34.3M; sustaining capital expenditures of USD $13.6M; and free cash flow of USD $20.7M. The company announced that the full year 2022 production is expected to be 100K-110K Oz Au and 6M-7M Oz Ag, and the cost applicable to sales is expected to be USD $750-850 per Oz Au and USD $13.50-14.50 per Oz Ag.
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported Q4 and full year 2021 consolidated production and financial results from their Mexican operation mines (Zimapan, Hidalgo and Rosario San Luis Potosi). In Q4,2021, the company milled 192,901 tonnes to produce 318.4K Oz Ag, 2.27M Lb Pb, 7.7M Lb Zn, and 1.1M Lb Cu (or 842K Oz AgEq with an average grade of 184 g/t AgEq). Santacruz reported for this period revenues of USD $13.8M, gross profit of USD $621K, a net loss of USD $10.45M and an adjusted EBIDTA loss of USD $4,47M. In the full year 2021, it milled 730,412 tonnes to produce 1.29M Oz Ag, 132Oz Au, 8.4M Lb Pb, 28M Lb Zn, and 4.07M Lb Cu (or 3.2M Oz Ag with an average grade of 185 g/t AgEq). The company reported for the full year 2021 revenues of USD $53.3M, gross profit of USD $10.3M, a net loss of USD $11.56M, and an adjusted EBIDTA loss of USD $713K.

ON FINANCING

  • No relevant news.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Capitan Mining Inc., released results from 5 RC holes collared at its Jesus Maria Silver Zone at the Cruz de Plata project (former Peñoles project) in Durango. Drilling highlights include hole 21-JMRC-10 (at the Upper Zone) with 291 g/t Ag, 0.15 g/t Au, 0.08% Pb, and 0.08% Zn (332 g/t AgEq) over 16.8m, including 478 g/t Ag, 0.56 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.2% Zn (539 g/t AgEq) over 9.1m, including 2,217 g/t Ag, 1.77 g/t Au, 1.1% Pb, and 0.4% Zn (2,406 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m; plus (at the Lower Zone) 71 g/t Ag, 0.4 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb, and 1.6% Zn (186 g/t AgEq) over 13.7m, including 114 g/t Ag, 0.67 g/t Au, 1.3% Pb, and 2.7% Zn (309 g/t AgEq) over 7.6m; hole 21-JMRC-06 (at the Upper Zone) with 100 g/t Ag, 0.12 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (146 g/t AgEq) over 13.7m, including 152 g/t Ag, 0.17 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, and 2.4% Zn (271 g/t AgEq) over 3m, including 154 g/t Ag, 0.17 g/t Au, 0.6% Pb, and 3.6% Zn (319 g/t AgEq), plus (at the Lower Zone) with 145 g/t Ag, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, 0.6% Zn (189 g/t AgEq) over 4.6m, including 380 g/t Ag, 0.28 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (448 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m; and hole 21-JMRC-08 with 44 g/t Ag, 0.36 g/t Au, 0.9% Pb, and 1.3% Zn (149 g/t AgEq) over 7.6m, including 62 g/t Ag, 0.48 g/t Au, 1.4% Pb, and 2.1% Zn (218 g/t AgEq) over 4.6m, and including 92 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 2.9% Pb, and 4.5% Zn (350 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m.
  • Zacatecas Silver Corp., received permits for 30 drill pads at El Cristo Vein System within its Zacatecas property to drill test multiple veins within a zone of dilation that is almost 4 km long and up to 600m wide.  The cumulative strike length of all veins at El Cristo is at least 12km long. A total of 2,500m of diamond drilling has been designed in this initial phase of drilling at El Cristo Vein System.
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., filed an Environmental Impact Statement or Manifestación de Impacto Ambiental (MIA) for its Cerro Caliche property in Sonora. “Under Mexican law, mining construction and operation activities require an approved MIA, as well as a Change of Land Use permit, or Autorización en Cambio de Uso de Suelo (“ETJ”), from the Mexican federal permitting authority, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (“SEMARNAT”). The company is currently completing the required documentation for the Change of Land Use application and anticipates filing with SEMARNAT in the near future.
  • Orex Minerals Inc. – Pan American Silver Corp JV received a permit to drill its Sandra project in Durango. Phase-I of this new drilling program will consist of approximately 2,500 to 3,000m. Orex conducted a geological mapping and litho geochemical sampling program over the combined 6,970 hectares of the project, where multiple drill target areas have been identified.
  • Southern Silver Exploration Corp., reported drilling results from the North Felsite and El Sol targets on its Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango. Drilling highlights include hole 21CLM-185 with 185 g/t Ag, 0.6 g/t Au, 0.1% Cu, 3.1% Pb, and 0.6% Zn (358 g/t AgEq or 9.1% ZnEq) over a true width (TW) of 0.7m at the North Felsite HW zone, plus 101 g/t Ag, 0.3 g/t Au, 0.8% Cu, 2.4% Pb, and 3.3% Zn (1,321 g/t AgEq or 33.5% ZnEq) over a TW of 1.8m, including 1,785 g/t Ag, 0.5 g/t Au, 1.4% Cu, 3.1% Pb, and 5.9% Zn (2,309 g/t AgEq or 56.6% ZnEq) over a TW of 1m at the North Felsite skarn area; hole 22CLM-184 with 7 g/t Ag, 1.1 g/t Au, 0% Cu, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn (112 g/t AgEq or 2.8% ZnEq) over a TW of 11.7m at the North Felsite HW zone, including 19 g/t Ag, 5.6 g/t Au, 0% Cu, 0.3% Pb, and 0.1% Zn (495 g/t AgEq or 12.5% ZnEq) over a TW of 1m, plus 121 g/t Ag, 0.2 g/t Au, 0.1% Cu, 1.9% Pb, and 6.5% Zn (460 g/t AgEq or 11.7% ZnEq) over a TW of 0.3m at North Felsite Skarn, plus 117 g/t Ag, 0.1 g/t Au, 0.1% Cu, 1.1% Pb, and 1% Zn (213 g/t AgEq or 5.4% ZnEq) over a TW of 6m, including 301 g/t Ag, 0.2 g/t Au, 0.5% Cu, 1.1% Pb, and 10.7% Zn (830 g/t AgEq or 21% ZnEq) over a TW of 0.3m, plus 302 g/t Ag, 0.2 g/t Au, 0.4% Cu, 2.9% Pb, and 0.7% Zn (485 g/t AgEq or 12.3% ZnEq) over a TW of 0.8m. “The North Felsite target is located on the eastern side of the Cerro Las Minitas, approximately 400m to the northwest of the La Bocona and Mina Piña shafts, in an area that was not included in the most recent NI43-101 Mineral Resource update on the property. New drilling tested the continuity of mineralization in both the main Ag-Pb-Zn Skarn as well as strongly Au-enriched hanging wall zone.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., released the remaining assay results from the phase 1 drilling program completed on the underexplored Noria portion at its la Joya project in Durango. This phase of drilling consisted of 11 core holes totaling 2,424m. Drilling highlights include hole NOR-22-008 with 41 g/t Ag, 0.11 g/t Au, 0.05% Cu, 0.2% Pb, and 0.6% Zn (90 g/t AgEq) over 125.3m, including 137 g/t Ag, 0.23 g/t Au, 0.14% Cu, 0.4% Pb, and 1.7% Zn (268 g/t AgEq) over 10.47m; and hole NOR-22-009 with 3 g/t Ag, 0.66 g/t Au, 0.03% Cu, 0% Pb, and 0.03% Zn (60 g/t AgEq) over 58.84m. “Phase II drilling is now in progress and targeting the wide intervals of mineralization intersected in the new Phase I discoveries”.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., reported results of the last four holes collared at its Tepic project in Nayarit. Drilling highlights include hole TDH014 with 322 g/t Ag and 0.96 g/t Au (424 g/t AgEq) over 6.35m, including 544 g/t Ag and 1.5 g/t Au (656 g/t AgEq) over 3.85m, plus 332 g/t Ag and 1.85 g/t Au (470 g/t AgEq) over 6.05m, including 786 g/t Ag and 3.78 g/t Au (1,070 g/t AgEq) over 2.3m. Holes were designed to test areas adjacent to and outside of the areas that were volumetrically included in historic resource estimations. “The Tepic drill holes are being incorporated into the project’s 3-D database and model to plan the continuation of the Phase 2 drilling at Tepic. Drill pads have already been constructed on the Taunas targets to drill the first test holes within the newly discovered area on the eastern portion of the project”.
  •  Golden Tag Resources Ltd., announced results from 2 holes drilled at its San Diego project in Durango. Key highlights include hole 22-65A (Rata Zone) with 0.02 g/t Au, 1,350 g/t Ag, 1.4% Pb, 3% Zn, and 0.35% Cu (1,556 g/t AgEq) over 0.6m, plus 0.03 g/t Au, 981 g/t Ag, 2.4% Pb, 2.5% Zn, and 0.35% Cu (1,194 g/t AgEq) over 0.65m, plus 0.11 g/t Au, 210 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, 1.1% Zn, and 0.05% Cu (288 g/t AgEq) over 1.67m, and plus (at Cata Zone) with 0.12 g/t Au, 197 g/t Ag, 1.2% Pb, 0.7% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (280 g/t AgEq) over 0.85m; and hole 22-65B (Rata Zone) with 0.08 g/t Au, 286 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, 0.3% Zn, and 0.04% Cu (312 g/t AgEq) over 1.20m, plus (at Cata Zone) with 0.27 g/t Au, 103 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, 0.6% Zn, and 0.05% Cu (174 g/t AgEq) over 16.48m, including 0.09 g/t Au, 108 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, 0.7% Zn, and 0.05% Cu (163 g/t AgEq) over 2.20m, plus 0.12 g/t Au, 460 g/t Ag, 3% Pb, 2.7% Zn, and 0.19% Cu (690 g/t AgEq) over 2.50m, plus (at CS Play Zone) with 0.11 g/t Au, 135 g/t Ag, 2.9% Pb, 3% Zn, and 0.09% Cu (363 g/t AgEq) over 4.27m, plus (at Fernandez Zone) with 0.05 g/t Au, 35 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, 0.8% Zn, and 0.11% Cu (93 g/t AgEq) over 395.1m, including 0.03 g/t Au, 37 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb, 1.1% Zn, and 0.14% Cu (109 g/t AgEq) over 185.90m. “Combining the results from hole 65B with the results from the previously reported hole 21-58, we can now anticipate that the potential extension of the Fernandez Zone could measure approximately 140 m x 70 m in the horizontal plane and 530 m in the vertical plane.  There are no drill holes to the west of hole 22-65B and thus the Fernandez Zone remains open to the west.” 
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., reported drill results from its ongoing exploration programs at its El Cubo mine and El Pinguico projects in Guanajuato. Key highlights include hole VP022-002 with 12.90 g/t Au and 1,956 g/t Ag (2,988 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 0.35m (Arroyo structure), plus 0.21 g/t Au and 31 g/t Ag (47 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 13.55m (Villalpando structure), including 0.76 g/t Au and 115 g/t Ag (176 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.15m, plus 0.44 g/t Au and 92 g/t Ag (127 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.39m (Villalpando FW structure); hole SC22-001 with 7.56 g/t Au and 42 g/t Ag (647 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.30m (680 Vein); hole SC22-002 with 4.49 g/t Au and 276 g/t Ag (636 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.13m (Tuberos Vein), plus 2.60 g/t Au and 194 g/t Ag (402 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.30m (Poniente Vein); and hole P21-22 with 1.04 g/t Au and 130 g/t Ag (203 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.56m (Arroyo structure), including 2.11 g/t Au and 227 g/t Ag (396 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.60m, plus 1.15 g/t Au and 193 g/t Ag (285 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.24m (Pinguico Vein). “These results serve to build confidence in our understanding of geological controls of high-grade mineralization within the various veins and different zones of our Guanajuato mine holdings. Further, drilling at the El Cubo mine continues to identify mineralization that the Company can quickly build into its near-term mining plans”.
  • Prime Mining Corp., announced new results from 17 holes drilled at Zapote North and Mariposa areas within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. “This drilling is targeting the expansion of the Zapote North deposit northwards along the structure and confirming the continuity of mineralization of Mariposa to the south. These holes confirm that gold-silver mineralization extends from Zapote North to Mariposa”. Drilling highlights at Zapote North  include hole 22ZAP-56 with 4.81 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 1.7m; hole 22ZAP-66R with 2.42 g/t Au and 24 g/t Ag over a TW of 9.70m, including 4.72 g/t Au and 36 g/t Ag over a TW of 4.2m; hole 22ZAP-67R with 3.83 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.4m; hole 22ZAP-59 with 1.4 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.2m, including 5.55 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.4m; hole 22ZAP-52R with 1.07 g/t Au and 20 g/t Ag over a TW of 19.9m, including  2.62 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.3m, including 3.32 g/t Au and 31 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.3m, plus 0.77 g/t Au and 27 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.2m; hole 22ZAP-68R with 0.68 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.2m, including 2.19 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.2m, plus 0.39 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.2m; and hole 22ZAP-69R with 0.47 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag over a TW of 6.6m, plus 1.42 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag over a TW of 5m, including 2.42 g/t Au and 44  g/t Ag over a TW of 2.5m. Drilling highlights at Mariposa include hole 22MA-08 with 1.1 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.3m, including 3.38 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.9m, plus 0.99 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag over a TW of 5.4m, including 2.05 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.1m, plus 0.69 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag over a TW of 4.90m; and hole 22MA-09 with 1.55 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.9m, including 5.35 g/t Au and 29 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.60m. “To date for Phase 1 and 2 combined, Prime has drilled 255 holes totalling 64,070 metres (122 in Phase 1 for 25,650 m and 133 holes so far in Phase 2 for 38,420 m)”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Golden Minerals Company announced the appointment of its COO, effective May 9, 2022 (Rodeo project, Durango).
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., announced the appointments of its COO and VP of Exploration (Panuco project, Sinaloa).
  • Orogen Royalties Inc. and the Riverside Resources Inc-BHP Group JV signed an option agreement for the Llano de Nogal Copper-Gold porphyry project in Sonora. Riverside can earn a 100% interest by making cash payments of USD $2.48M and USD $5M in cumulative exploration expenditures (CEE) subject to the following schedule: USD $30K (closing of transaction); USD $50K (1st anniversary) and  USD $500K in CEE; USD $50K (2nd anniversary) and USD $1.3M in CEE; USD $100K (3rd anniversary) and $USD $2M (CEE); USD $200K (4th anniversary) and USD $3M (CEE); USD $300K (5th anniversary) and USD $4M (CEE); and USD $1.75M (6th anniversary) and USD $5M (CEE). “During the option period, Orogen and Riverside will jointly retain the right to exercise and retain any Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty buydown rights with respect to the Suanse claims (0.5% NSR royalty for CAD $1M) and the Coyotes claims (1.5% NSR royalty for USD $1.5M). Once Riverside has exercised its option on Llano de Nogal, Riverside will grant to Orogen a 1% Production Royalty, of which 0.5% can be purchased for USD $10M within 10 years of the exercise date”.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Esperanza Silver de México obtained the support of the Tetlama community to the extent of accompanying the request for federal environmental permits for its operation for the Esperanza project in Morelos. The company determined to promote the project from the beginning hand in hand with the inhabitants since it is based on lands that belong to the community, and showing full respect for their human rights. Esperanza Silver will be delivering the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) report and the study to propose the change of land use in forest land to the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources of the federal government (SEMARNAT) by the end of this year. Currently, the Esperanza Project is in the evaluation stage of the technical studies carried out during 2021 in terms of water and geotechnics. This year will be dedicated to the design of the technical project that will allow establishing the model of the mine’s industrial plant. At this point, both the company and the community will submit the request for an Environmental Manifesto to SEMARNAT, which could occur in mid-2023.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., has generated 2,200 new jobs in the last two years, 700 of them for people hired directly and 1,500 more indirectly for the construction of its La Yaqui Grande mine in Sonora. La Yaqui Grande mine, is in its final stage of construction and will start commercial production during Q3, 2022. The Yaqui Grande mine is already being a development opportunity for communities in the Sierra de Sonora in the municipalities of Sahuaripa, Yécora and Arivechi, among others.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, phyllic alteration in a porphyry copper prospect in Michoacán Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of December, 2021. 

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Quartz vein with massive chalcopyrite

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 48th week of the year (November 29th to December 5th, 2021), at least 24 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 3 news published by the media, with seven announcing financial issues, five reporting resources and developments of their properties, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, four informing on exploration results, three commenting on Mexican issues, and three communicating production and financial results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, AMLO reaffirmed this week his foolish and unfortunate policy of not granting more mining concessions in Mexico. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered to meet the request of residents of San José del Progreso and collaborators of Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, who asked him to avoid the closure of the San José mining unit, located in that Oaxacan municipality. The current government has stopped the issuance of mining concessions and investment in Mexico. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Ranchero Gold provided an update of its ongoing drilling program conducted at its Maíz Azul project. In Chihuahua, Mammoth received from SEMARNAT a permit to expand its drilling program at its Tenoriba project. In Sinaloa, Kootenay announced drill results from its Copalito project. In Durango, Silverton signed a surface agreement for its Pluton Silver-Zinc project.  ON MINING, Americas Gold and Silver announced the re-opening of its Cosalá mine operation in Sinaloa. Santacruz reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. Guanajuato Silver provided a production update on its El Cubo mine, Guanajuato.  ON FINANCING, Guanajuato Silver closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement offering of up to 16M units at a price of CAD $0.55 per unit (El Cubo mine, Guanajuato). Fabled renewed its agreement with Agora Internet to provide online advertising, marketing, and branding services and wishes to issue 519,007 common shares in respect of the settlement, and engaged Hybrid Financial to provide marketing services (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua). First Majestic announced that it will issue USD $200M aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes or USD $230M aggregate principal amount if the over-allotment option is exercised in full (San Dimas mine, Durango). Guanajuato Silver received USD $750K from the sale of 90 tonnes of bulk Ag-Au concentrate from El Cubo mine in Guanajuato, and anticipates receiving a payment of approximately USD $1.3M for the sale of approximately 175 tonnes of additional Ag-Au concentrate on or about December 3, 2021. Orogen announced initial production at the Ermitaño deposit in Sonora where the company holds a 2% net smelter return. VVC announced an arrangement with Stockhouse Publishing to assists VVC with general market outreach and investor awareness (Gloria Copper project, Chihuahua). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Discovery reported a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua. Endeavour released high grade results from its ongoing drilling program at their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. Silver Tiger reported a wide high grade drill intersection on the Benjamin Vein at its El Tigre project, Sonora. Fabled released results from hole SM0-42 collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua. GR Silver announced the discovery of a gold-silver rich mineralized zone during the initial reconnaissance drilling at Loma Dorada target within its Plomosas project in Sinaloa.    ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Almadex announced the appointment of two members to its Board of Directors and the retirement of one Director after many years of valued service (El Chato project, Puebla). Capstone and Mantos Copper entered into a definitive agreement to combine business to create Capstone Copper (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas). Heliostar announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Cumaro project, Sonora). Monumental Minerals announced the appointment of an advisory board to assist the company with the exploration and drill target definition of its Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • AMLO reaffirmed this week his foolish and unfortunate policy of not granting more mining concessions in Mexico. He declared that mining companies were speculating in the financial market. López Obrador asserted that the existing mining concessions will be respected; however, his government will no longer give more, as many companies “cheated” and have not carried out exploitation tasks.
  • President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered to meet the request of residents of San José del Progreso and collaborators of Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, who asked him to avoid the closure of the San José mining unit, located in that Oaxacan municipality. The president was asked to avoid the loss of more than 1,200 direct jobs and around 8,000 indirect ones.
  • The current government has stopped the issuance of mining concessions and investment in Mexico. Parallel to the policy of null concessions, the president has presented a bill that intends to reserve strategic minerals such as lithium only for the State, denying any concession for their exploration, production or commercialization. Both their decisions not to grant a single concession in three years of government “and the promise not to do so in the entire six-year term”and to reserve strategic minerals for the State have been strongly criticized by specialists and representatives of the mining industry, to the point of warning that the future of the country is being“mortgaged.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Ranchero Gold Corp., provided an update of its ongoing drilling program conducted at its Maíz Azul project, located 3.5km east of Alamos Gold´s Mulatos mine in Sonora. To date, eight holes have been drilled totalling 1,245m, which represents 42% of the Phase 1 drill program which plans to test the La Colmena, La Cascada, and X-structure targets. 175 samples have been submitted to lab and results are expected to arrive in Q1, 2022.
  • Mammoth Resources Corp., received from SEMARNAT a permit to expand its drilling program at its Tenoriba project in Chihuahua. SEMARNAT approved the company´s application for up to 182 additional drill sites and covers the entire 6 km Au-Ag mineralization at the Tenoriba project.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., announced drill results from Agua, 5 Señores, and Chiva Veins within its Copalito project in Sinaloa. Highlights at Agua Vein include hole BDH-20-055 with 2 g/t Au, 125 g/t Ag and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (276 g/t AgEq) over 23m, including 9.26 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag, and 0.6% combined Pb+Zn (643 g/t AgEq) over 5m, including 21.1 g/t Au, 29 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (1,409 g/t AgEq) over 0.65m, plus 0.82 g/t Au, 587 g/t Ag, and 1.6% combined Pb+Zn (676 g/t AgEq) over 3m; hole BDH-21-056 with 0.22 g/t Au, 101 g/t Ag, and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (135 g/t AgEq) over 21m, including 0.28 g/t Au, 163 g/t Ag, and 0.8% combined Pb+Zn (199 g/t AgEq) over 7m, including 0.48 g/t Au, 440 g/t Ag and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (492 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m; and hole CDH-21-80 with 0.42 g/t Au, 63 g/t Ag, and 4.8% combined Pb+Zn (199 g/t AgEq) over 1.84m, including 0.69 g/t Au, 133 g/t Ag, and 11% combined Pb+Zn (423 g/t AgEq) over 0.43m. Highlights at 5 Señores Vein include hole BDH-20-51 with 2.95 g/t Au, 98 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (290 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; and hole BDH-20-052 with 0.23 g/t Au, 14 g/t Ag, and 0.6% combined Pb+Zn (34 g/t AgEq) over 3.3m, including 1.28 g/t Au, 61 g/t Ag, and 3.3% combined Pb+Zn (174 g/t AgEq) over 0.48m. Highlight on Chiva Vein include hole BDH-21-057 with 0.06 g/t Au, 106 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (118 g/t AgEq) over 6.33m, including 0.23 g/t Au, 513 g/t Ag, and 0.8% combined Pb+Zn (546 g/t AgEq) over 0.82m; hole BDH-21-058 with 0.07 g/t Au, 41 g/t Ag, and 0.1% combined Pb+Zn (48 g/t AgEq) over 12m, including 0.5 g/t Au, 300 g/t Ag, and 1.4% combined Pb+Zn (1,364 g/t AgEq) over 0.35m; and hole BDH-21-063 with 0.92 g/t Au, 86 g/t Ag, and 5.5% combined Pb+Zn (269 g/t AgEq) over 1.82m, including 4.49 g/t Au, 453 g/t Ag, and 2.7% combined Pb+Zn (1,344 g/t AgEq) over 0.32m.
  • Silverton Metals Corp., signed a surface agreement for three years for its Pluton Silver-Zinc project with the Comisariado Ejidal of Ejido Mapimi in Durango State. The agreement provides access to the land for surface exploration work, including diamond drilling and use of a core storage facility.

ON MINING

  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation, announced the re-opening of its Cosalá mine operation in Sinaloa. The Los Braceros plant has returned to nameplate production with a steady source of feed from a combination of existing stockpiled ore and new production from the San Rafael mine.
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. At Zimapan mine, Hidalgo, the company milled 186,642 tonnes to produce 867.2K Oz AgEq, and sold 829.2K Oz AgEq. Cash costs per ton and per Oz AgEq produced were USD $53.88 and USD $17.72 respectively. AISC was USD $22.81 per Oz Ag Eq. The company reported revenue of USD $14.4M and a gross profit of USD $3.93M. At Rosario mine, San Luis Potosi, the company milled 2,306 tonnes to produce 5,698 Oz AgEq and sold 10,765 Oz AgEq. Cash costs per ton and per Oz AgEq produced were USD $173.04 and USD $42.81 respectively. AISC was USD $22.47 per Oz AgEq produced. The company reported revenue for USD $182K and gross profit of (272K).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., provided a production update on its El Cubo mine, Guanajuato. The company has mined since October 15, 2021 450 tonnes of ore per day from El Cubo mine and is processing an average of 1,000 tonnes per day. It expects the plant to operate for 22 to 24 days for an average monthly operating rate of 22,500 tonnes for the next 6 months.

ON FINANCING

  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement offering of up to 16M units at a price of CAD $0.55 per unit. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the ongoing exploration, development, and expansion of the Company’s El Cubo mine and mill complex and El Pinguico silver and gold project, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., renewed its agreement with Agora Internet Relations to provide online advertising, marketing, and branding services and wishes to issue 519,007 common shares in respect of the settlement. It also engaged Hybrid Financial Ltd., to provide marketing services. Hybrid has been engaged for an initial period of 6 months, starting on December 1, 2021 and will be paid a monthly fee of $22,500 plus payable taxes (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua).
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., announced that it will issue USD $200M aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes or USD $230M aggregate principal amount if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. The company intends to use approximately USD $164.9M of the net proceeds of the offering to repurchase, in separate privately negotiated transactions, approximately USD $125.2M aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 1.875% convertible senior notes. The company intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including strategic opportunities (San Dimas mine, Durango).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., received USD $750K from the sale of 90 tonnes of bulk Ag-Au concentrate grading approximately 220 Oz Ag per tonne and 2.2 Oz Au per tonne from El Cubo mine in Guanajuato, and anticipates receiving a payment of approximately USD $1.3M for the sale of approximately 175 tonnes of additional Ag-Au concentrate at similar grades on or about December 3, 2021.
  • Orogen Royalties Inc., announced initial production at the Ermitaño deposit in Sonora where the company holds a 2% net smelter return. The first doré gold-silver pour occurred November 11, 2021 and commercial production is expected in Q1 2022.
  • VVC Exploration Corporation announced an arrangement with Stockhouse Publishing to assists VVC with general market outreach and investor awareness. At the time, the company issued to Stockhouse 157,900 common shares of VVC and a $60K Note to be converted into shares in four tranches over a year. With the approval of TSX Venture Exchange, one quarter of the note ($15K) will now converted, as part of the second tranche, to 136,365 shares at a price of $0.11 per share, being yesterday´s market price discounted by 25%. The next share issuance will occur in three months (Gloria Copper project, Chihuahua).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Discovery Silver Corp., reported a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua. The reports indicates that the ultimate pit contains 719M tonnes consisting of 228M tonnes of mill feed and 491M tonnes of waste for an average strip ratio of 2.2:1 Highlights include a Base Case after-tax NPV 5% of USD $1,160M and IRR of 38% assuming prices of USD $22 / Oz Ag, USD $1,600/ Oz Au, USD 1/Lb Pb, and USD $1.0/ Lb Zn; and a Upside Case after-tax NPV 5% of USD $1,889M and IRR of 55%, assuming prices of USD $27.5/Oz Ag, USD $1,880/Oz Au,  USD $1.1/Lb Pb, and USD $1.45/Lb Zn; 16-year mine life with an average annual production of 26M Oz AgEq at an AISC of USD $12.35 / Oz AgEq; initial development CAPEX of USD $368M post-tax payback of 2 years for Base Case and 1.4 years for Upside Case; 99% of tonnes processed in the PEA mine are in the Measured + Indicated category; and Ag represents > 60% of the net smelter return in the first five years of the mine life and >50% of the net smelter return over the life of mine.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., released high grade results from its ongoing drilling program at their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. At Guanacevi mine, highlights include hole UCM-67 with 1.97 g/t Au and 1,254 g/t Ag (1,412 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 3.22m, including 3.6 g/t Au and 2,690 g/t Ag (2,978 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.2m, extending the El Curso orebody along strike; and hole SCSU-11 with 4.36 g/t Au, 1,450 g/t Ag (1,798 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 3.18m, including 7.97 g/t Au and 4,568 g/t Ag (5,206 g/t AgEq) over 0.31m, extending the Santa Cruz South orebody to depth. At Bolañitos mine, Guanajuato, highlights include hole BS-04 with 8.08 g/t Au and 151 g/t Ag (797 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.67m, including 89.6 g/t Au and 88 g/t Ag (8,046 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.08m on a new discovery, the Tepetateras vein, south of the current workings; and hole BS-03 with 1.26 g/t Au and 241 g/t Ag (342 g/t AgEq) over 0.96m, on the Lulu vein, south of the current workings.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported a wide high grade drill intersection on the Benjamin Vein at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Hole ET-21-272 encountered 0.35 g/t Au, 388 g/t Ag, 0.14% Cu, 2.9% Pb, and 6.2% Zn (701 g/t AgEq) over 23.1m, including 0.5 g/t Au, 587 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 4.3% Pb, and 9.2% Zn (1,051 g/t AgEq) over 15.1m, including 0.52 g/t Au, 1,642 g/t Ag, 0.58% Cu, 11.9% Pb, and 25.2% Zn (2,855 g/t AgEq) over 5.1m, including 0.37 g/t Au, 2,877 g/t Ag, 1.05% Cu, 14.6% Pb, and 30.8% Zn (4,375 g/t AgEq) over 2.6m.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., released results from hole SM0-42 collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua. This hole was designed to fill in a drill poor gap just to the west of the current resources. The hole intersected six gold bearing zones. Highlights are 0.49 g/t Au, 117 g/t Ag, 0.05% Pb, 0.1% Zn (143 g/t AgEq) over 3.70m, including 0.91 g/t Au, 211 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, 0.1% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (258 g/t AgEq) over 1.20m, plus 0.43 g/t Au, 227 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, 0.3% Zn and 0.01% Cu (249 g/t AgEq) over 1.71m.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced the discovery of a gold-silver rich mineralized zone during the initial reconnaissance drilling at Loma Dorada target within its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Hole LDSP21-007 encountered 5.23 g/t Au and 166 g/t Ag over 1m. “The Loma Dorada target is currently the subject of reconnaissance drilling, testing a new geological model of NW trending, Au-Ag rich veining – a possible extension 1.2 km along strike from La Colorada”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., announced the appointment of two members to its Board of Directors and the retirement of one Director after many years of valued service. The company also granted stock options to officers, employees and directors to purchase an aggregate of 1,075,000 common shares at a price of $0.31 per share which expires on December 5, 2023 (El Chato project, Puebla).
  • Capstone Mining Corp. and Mantos Copper Limited entered into a definitive agreement to combine business to create Capstone Copper Corp., a premier copper producer with transformational near-term growth. Upon completion of the transaction, former Capstone and Mantos shareholders will collectively own 60.75% and 39.25% of Capstone Copper, respectively, on a fully-diluted share basis. (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas).
  • Heliostar Metals Limited announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Cumaro project, Sonora).
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., announced the appointment of an advisory board to assist the company with the exploration and drill target definition of its Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. Monumental also appointed a new Director to its Board. The Company also granted 275,000 incentive stock options to advisors at a price of $0.50 per common share for a period of five years.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • No relevant news.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, a piece of core showing a quartz vein with massive chalcopyrite from an epithermal quartz vein system in a current producing mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of November, 2021. 

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Quartz hydrothermal breccia

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 44th week of the year (November 1st to November 7th, 2021), at least 29 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with nine reporting resources and developments, seven informing on exploration results, six communicating production and financial results, three announcing financial issues, three disclosing deals and corporate issues, and one discussing social issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, no relevant news. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Aztec Minerals and its JV Kootenay approved a 5,000m RC drill program at its Cervantes project,  Canuc added two new mining concessions to its San Javier project,  and Ranchero Gold provided an update on its Phase 1 drill program at its Santa Daniela project. In Chihuahua, Kootenay released results from three drill holes collared at its Columba project. In Durango, Silver Wolf engaged Terraquest to conduct a high resolution aeromagnetic, radiometric and matrix electro- magnetic geophysical survey on its Ana Maria property. In Zacatecas, Almadex completed a field program implemented to refine targets at its Las Lajas project. In Jalisco, Almadex reported that it has conducted IP geophysics at its San Pedro project. In Guerrero, Pantera Silver informed that it has completed all the reports and requirements needed to apply for a drill permit for its Nuevo Taxco project. ON MINING, Americas Gold and Silver announced that its Cosalá operation in Sinaloa has been re-started and all workers have been re-called. First Majestic announced Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Mexican operations. Golden Minerals presented Q3, 2021 production and financial results from its Rodeo mine in Durango. Mexus announced revenue of $128K for the month of October from its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. Minera Alamos reported that it has made an initial delivery of gold doré from its Santana mine in Sonora. Torex reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from its El Limon-Guajes Mine Complex in Guerrero, and provided full year 2021 production guidance. ON FINANCING, Aztec Minerals closed the first tranche of a private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $1M (Cervantes project, Sonora). One World Lithium closed a first tranche of a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $765,221 (Salar del Diablo project, Baja California). Southern Empire announced its intention to undertake a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1M (Pedro Gold project, Durango).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Altaley announced that it has hired MGA Contratista Minera at its underground mining contractor for its Tahuehueto mine in Durango. Azucar Minerals reported that a mineral chemistry porphyry vectoring study has identified a new target area for a possible central porphyry system to its the El Cobre project, Veracruz. In Baja California, Comet released results from eight drill holes collared at its Santa Teresa project. Fabled reported results from one hole collared at its Santa Maria project in Chihuahua. Mithril announced drill results from its Copalquin project in Durango. Silvertone commenced a 2,200m drilling program at its Peñasco Quemado project in Sonora. Tarachi reported positive metallurgical results from its Magistral Tailings project in Durango. Vizsla released results from its ongoing resource focused drilling program from its Panuco project in Sinaloa. GR Silver provided an update on its 2021 drilling program at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Candelaria Mining announced that it will commence trading on the OTCQX Best Market (Caballo Blanco project, Veracruz). Kootenay Silver and Kootenay Resources announced completion of spin-out transaction (Columba project, Chihuahua). Monumental Gold received approval from TSX to acquire from Discovery Silver the Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Discovery Silver produced its first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report (Cordero project, Chihuahua).

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • No relevant news.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Aztec Minerals Corp., and its JV Kootenay Silver Inc., approved a 5,000m RC drill program, consisting of 22 holes, at its Cervantes project in Sonora. This Phase 2 drill program is expected to commence in this month and plans to test the main four targets: California, California Norte, Jasper, and Purisima East. “The primary objectives of the two phase 2021 exploration program are to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry gold oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper copper-gold porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization at California North and Jasper, and assess the breccia potential of Purisima East”.
  • Canuc Resources Corporation added two new mining concessions to its San Javier project in Sonora. The new concessions acquired by staking are contiguous and cover extensions of one of the Company’s principal exploration targets.
  • Ranchero Gold Corp., provided an update on its 13 holes, 3,000m Phase 1 drill program, at its Santa Daniela project in Sonora. The current drill program is planned to test three low-sulphidation epithermal targets: La Colmena, La Cascada, and X-Structure. To date, only 360m have been completed in two holes.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., released results from three drill holes collared at its Columba project in Chihuahua. Significant drill intercepts were encountered in holes CDH-21-110 with 269 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb, and 0.8% Zn over 55m, including 453 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, and 1.4% Zn over 29.9m, including 650 g/t Ag, 0.9% Pb, and 2.3% Zn over 17.8m, and including multiple mineralized intervals varying from 100-1,915 g/t Ag, 0.1-5.4% Pb, and 0.1-9% Zn in widths from 0.3-2.5m; hole CDH-21-109 with  100 g/t Ag, 0.05% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 31m, including 193 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn over 14.56m, including 294 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over 7.11m, and including multiple mineralized intervals varying from 167-592 g/t Ag, 0.1-0.2% Pb, and 0.1-1% Zn over widths of 0.7-2.31m; and hole CDH-21-108 with 57 g/t Ag, 0.02% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 166m, including 98 g/t Ag, 0.03% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 77m, including 328 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.5% Zn over 11m, including 504 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, and 0.7% Zn over 5.9m, including 1,100 g/t Ag, 0.5% Pb, and 2% Zn over 1m, and including additional mineralized intervals varying from 124-331 g/t Ag, 0.1-0.2% Pb, and 0.2-0.6% Zn over widths of 0.5-1.5m.    
  • Silver Wolf Exploration Ltd., engaged Terraquest to conduct a high resolution aeromagnetic, radiometric and matrix electro- magnetic geophysical survey on its Ana Maria property, Durango. A total of 1,800 line kilometers will be flown over the entire property which consists of 9 mining concessions encompassing 2,549 hectares.
  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., completed a field program implemented to refine targets at its Las Lajas project in Zacatecas, prior to a first pass diamond drill program planned for later this year. Las Lajas consists of a banded epithermal vein system and was staked by the company during a regional exploration program.
  • Almadex Minerals Ltd, reported that it conducted IP geophysics at its San Pedro project in Jalisco, and has identified high chargeability responses that were not tested by the past drilling efforts. A drill program is currently underway at this project. Almadex and previous operators carried out surface sampling, geophysics, and drilling at the project. Historical reports include results of 55 sample reconnaissance rock chip sampling program which returned gold values from below detection to 12.4 g/t Au (averaging 0.44 g/t Au) and 0.07 to 2,490 g/t Ag (averaging 71.0 g/t Ag), and one RC hole including 1.65 g/t Au and 19 g/t Ag over a length of 6.08m.
  • Pantera Silver Corp., informed that it has completed all the reports and requirements needed to apply for a drill permit for its Nuevo Taxco project. The company filed a Manifiesto de Impacto Ambiental (MIA) and an Estudio Técnico Justificativo (ETJ) with SEMARNAT. The Company is completing final preparations for drilling in anticipation of receiving a drill permit before the end of November.

ON MINING

  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation announced that its Cosalá operation in Sinaloa has been re-started and all workers have been re-called. The milling rate is expected to ramp out in tandem with mine production with a goal of processing 1,800 tonnes per day. Cosalá has over 20K tonnes of ore ready to be processed and approximately 20 loads of existing concentrate were shipped in late October. “Initial production will be focused on the main Zone consisting of high-grade Zn areas fully developed before the illegal blockade to maximize near-term free cash flow”.
  • First Majestic Silver Corporation announced Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Mexican operations. Figures by mine are shown in the table below:
 ·         Golden Minerals Company presented Q3, 2021 production and financial results from its Rodeo mine in Durango. Golden produced 4,777 payable Oz Au and 12,196 payable Oz Ag (4,942 Oz AuEq), and sold 4,804 Oz AuEq in doré with 1,042 Oz AuEq in doré inventory at the end of the quarter. The company reported revenues of USD $8.5M, yielding a net operating margin of USD $4.2M; USD $8.8M cash and cash equivalents balance as of Sept 30, 2021, and a net income of USD $0.4M in Q3, 2021.
·         Mexus Gold US announced revenue of $128K for the month of October from its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. With the ongoing improvements to the heap leach pad and the addition of more activated carbon cells to collect value, the company expects November revenues to exceed $150K.
·         Minera Alamos Inc., reported that it has made an initial delivery of gold doré from early material stacked on its Santana heap leach pad in Sonora state. Approximately 400 Oz Au was contained in the doré poured were sent off for final refining and sale.  
·         Torex Gold Resources Inc., reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from its El Limon-Guajes Mine Complex in Guerrero, and provided full year 2021 production guidance. Torex produced 111,229 Oz Au at cash and AISC of USD $727 and USD $900 respectively per Oz Au sold, and sold 118,989 Oz Au at an average realized price of USD $1,786 per Oz Au. It reported an EBIDTA of USD $ 119.3M and free cash of USD $294M. The company announced a net earning of USD $36.5M or USD $0.423 per share; and adjusted net earnings of USD $42.9M or USD $0.50 per share, on both a basis and diluted basis. Cash flow totalized USD $87.8M and USD $100.2M prior to changes in non-cash working capital, including taxes paid of USD $19.7M. Free cash generated was USD $29.4M which includes an outflow of USD $12.4M related to changes in non-cash working capital. Finally, Torex reported net cash of USD $217.8M including USD $221.6M in cash and USD $3.8M of lease obligations. The company also provided a full year 2021 production guidance and expects to produce 430K-470K Oz Au at a total cash and AISC cost of USD $680-720 and USD $920-970 per Oz Au respectively.

 ON FINANCING

·         Aztec Minerals Corp., closed the first tranche of a private placement equity financing for gross proceeds of CAD $1M.The company plans to use part of the net proceeds to conduct exploration work on its Cervantes project in Sonora.
·         One World Lithium Inc., closed a first tranche of a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $765,221. Net proceeds will be used primary to fund the Salar Del Diablo exploration programs as well as for the initial start up for the Company’s separation technology testing and working capital.
·         Southern Empire Resources Corp., announced its intention to undertake a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1M. Part of the net proceeds will be used for funding an exploration program at its Pedro Gold project in Durango, and for working capital purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

·         Altaley Mining Corporation announced that it has hired MGA Contratista Minera S.A. de C.V. at its underground mining contractor for its Tahuehueto mine in Durango. MGA is now mobilizing its mining equipment to Tahuehueto Gold Mine to continue underground drift and stope development to advance the Tahuehueto Mine to production. “First production through the mill, which is at an advanced stage of construction, is anticipated near the end of 2021 when the first ball mill is to be commissioned and in Q1 2022 the second ball mill will be installed and brought online to thereafter, ramp up production to the mine’s anticipated 1,000 tonne per day capacity”.
·         Azucar Minerals Ltd., reported that a mineral chemistry porphyry vectoring study, using chlorite and epidote, has identified a new target area for a possible central porphyry system to its the El Cobre project, Veracruz. This vectoring study indicates that the El Cobre district likely contains a fertile medium to large sized porphyry system and the most prospective area is located in the centre of the project where there has been little previous exploration drilling. “Field work has already been initiated in this area in order to identify any surface alteration and mineralization evidence and to prepare for a future drilling campaign to test this large target area”.
·         Comet Resources Ltd. released results from a 2,250m drill program which consisted of eight drill holes collared at its Santa Teresa project in Baja California. Highlights include holes STDDH-21-006 with 63.2 g/t Au over 1.2m, and 27.5 g/t Au over 0.7m; hole STDDH-21-007 with 31 g/t Au over 1.6m; and hole STDDH-21-001 with 26.9 g/t Au over 1m. These results will be incorporated into resource modelling.
·         Fabled Silver Gold Corp., reported results from one hole collared at its Santa Maria project in Chihuahua. Hole SM20-37 intercept the previously encountered dike and related breccia, and returned 0.56 g/t Au, 53 g/t Ag, 1.3% Pb, 3.3% Zn, and 0.14% Cu (82 g/t AgEq) over 8.8m, including 2.21 g/t Au, 112 g/t Ag, 3.3% Pb, 8.4% Zn, and 0.18% Cu (226 g/t AgEq) over 0.9, including 0.57 g/t Au, 38 g/t Ag, 1%Pb, 4.5% Zn, and 0.08% Cu (68 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m, including 0.28 g/t Au, 65 g/t Ag, 1.6% Pb, 2.9% Zn, and 0.19% Cu (79 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m,including 0.69 g/t Au, 109 g/t Ag, 2.5% Pb, 3.8% Zn, and 0.38% Cu (144 g/t AgEq) over 0.69m.
·         Mithril Resources Inc., announced drill results from hole CDH-094 collared in El Refugio area at its Copalquin project in Durango. The hole intersected 1.88 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag (2.76 g/t AuEq) over 3m, plus 9.64 g/t Au and 279 g/t Ag (13.63 g/t AuEq) over 18.67m, including 17.9 g/t Au and 482 g/t Ag (24.8 g/t AuEq) over 9.3m. The company announced that a maiden JORC mineral resource estimate is on schedule for Q4, 2021; and that a metallurgical test work will commence at November, 2021.
·         Silvertone Metals Corp., commenced a 2,200m drilling program at its Peñasco Quemado project in Sonora. The drilling will test two priority target areas called La Fortuna and Peñasco Pit, located in separate areas of the property. In the Peñasco Pit area, the drilling program will test the interpreted along-strike extensions to this mineralized zone area that contains the drill defined historic resource estimate as identified by strong, southeast-trending geochemical anomalies (zinc, lead, barium and manganese in soils) which exceed three kilometers in length and have some coincidental geophysical anomalies. At La Fortuna, the drill program will test strong zinc, lead and copper soil anomalies with a coincidental “plug” like geophysical low resistivity anomaly that extends beyond 500 meters in depth. Company geologists interpret this geophysical anomaly as altered intrusive rocks which may be a potential source of mineralization.
·         Tarachi Gold Corp., reported positive metallurgical results from its Magistral Tailings project in Durango. Total gold recovery after 48 hours of leach time ranged from 81.7 to 86.9% on as-received, unground samples. “With the tailings assay grades previously announced averaging 2.04g/t Au and the strong gold recoveries released today; the data continues to support our goal of producing a minimum of 15K Oz Au per year at Magistral.”
·         Vizsla Silver Corp., released results from its ongoing resource focused drilling program from its Panuco project in Sinaloa. Ten new holes targeting the Napoleon Resource area and three new holes centered on the Tajitos Resource area were collared by Vizsla and encountered high-grade Ag-Au mineralization. At Napoleon area, significant mineralization was encountered in holes NP-21-173 with 99 g/t Ag, 6.8 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 1.8% Zn (774 g/t AgEq) over 3.7m, and 227 g/t Ag, 2.57 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 3.7% Zn (592 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 1.83m ; and hole NP-21-186, 200m step-out to the south with 58 g/t Ag, 0.93 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, and 5.5% Zn (280 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 2.74m. At Tajitos area, highlights include hole CS-21-71 with 901 g/t Ag and 3.25 g/t Au (1,150 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 3.4m; and hole  CS-21-60 with 201 g/t Ag and 1.4 g/t Au (319 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 6.82m. These results on Tajitos expanded the resource area by 200 metres along strike to the northeast. Drilling at Panuco project continue with two rigs expanding the Josephine Vein, with step-out holes underway testing both the southern and northern extents of the vein. The company expects to announce a maiden project resource estimate for Q1, 2022.
·         GR Silver Mining Ltd., provided an update on its 2021 drilling program at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. The drilling program has been focused primarily on new areas recognized as attractive sites for NW or NE trending, high-grade Au-Ag mineralized veins, such as Loma Dorada, San Marcial, El Trampolin, El Saltito, GAP area, and Plomosas South. Additionally, early-stage reconnaissance exploration at the Las Cuevas and El Ranchito areas provide additional prospects for future drilling.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

·         Candelaria Mining Corp., announced that it will commence trading on the OTCQX Best Market remaining under the symbol “CDELF”. Previously, the Company’s U.S. share trading was on OTC Pink (Caballo Blanco project, Veracruz).
·         Kootenay Silver Inc., and Kootenay Resources Inc., announced that the spin-out transaction whereby Kootenay Silver spun-out 80% of the common shares of Kootenay Resources to its shareholders has been completed. “The holders of common shares of Kootenay Silver, received one new common share of Kootenay Silver and 0.04 Kootenay Resources Shares for each Old Kootenay Silver Share previously held. The Old Kootenay Silver Shares were delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange at the close of business on October28, 2021”  (Columba project, Chihuahua).
·         Monumental Gold Corp., received approval from TSX to acquire from Discovery Silver Corp., the Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. Discovery has agreed to transfer and assign its rights and obligations of six mineral concessions comprising approximately 3,560 hectares that form the Jemi project located in the Ocampo municipality of Coahuila State to Monumental Gold. The original agreement transferred by Discovery to Monumental is an option agreement to acquire 100% of the property from vendors by completing USD $2M of exploration expenditures on the property by May 16, 2024, and paying to the vendors USD $500K in cash or common shares upon the exercise of the option. In connection with the approval by the TSX of the Assignment Agreement, the Company will change its name to “Monumental Minerals Corp., and the trading symbol will change to “MNRL”.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

·         Discovery Silver Corp. produced its first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, setting out the Company’s current practices and priorities going forward.  Highlights based on 2020 calendar year include over CAD $1.7M in goods and services purchased from local Mexican businesses; over CAD$1.3M in salaries and benefits paid to local employees; Total workforce of 124 includes 58 employees and 66 contractors, ( Employees: 89% Mexican nationals, 11% Canadian, and Contractors: 98% Mexican nationals, 2% Canadian); Total GHG emissions of 167 tonnes of CO2 equivalent; Total water withdrawal of 36,017 m3 and total water discharged of 36,007 m3; and Zero fatalities and only 5 first-aid incidents (Cordero project, Chihuahua).

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, a quartz hydrothermal breccia containing malachite stains in an epithermal quartz vein system in a project in Sonora, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

Macarthur Minerals Closes Private Placement to Rare Earth Minerals PLC

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http://www.stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2016/04/12/macarthur-minerals-closes-private-placement-to-rare-earth-minerals-plc

Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE: MMS) (the “Company” or “Macarthur Minerals”) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced non-brokered private placement (the “Offering”) for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$300,000 for 15,000,000 units (each, a “Unit”) at a price of CAD$0.02 per Unit (“Unit Price”) to Rare Earth Minerals Plc (AIM: REM, OTC: REMMY) (“Rare Earth Minerals”). The Unit Price is equal to the closing price of the Company’s TSX Venture Exchange listed shares on February 3, 2016, the date the Company announced the Offering.

Rare Earth Minerals plc joins the ISDX Growth Market

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http://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/rare-earth-minerals-plc-joins-the-isdx-growth-market/412682072

Rare Earth Minerals plc (LON:REM) today announced that with effect from 8:00 a.m. today, the Company’s ordinary shares will commence trading on the ISDX Growth Market under the ticker REM. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company will remain admitted to trading on AIM following admission to ISDX.

Rare Earth Minerals plc current investments include:

a 17.19% holding in Bacanora Minerals Ltd (“Bacanora”);
· A 30% direct interest in Megalit SA de CV (“Megalit”) and Mexilit SA de CV (“Mexilit”); Megalit and Mexilit together own ten mining concessions in the Sonora Lithium Project. The remaining 70% of Megalit and Mexilit is owned by Bacanora. When REM’s ownership of 17.02% of Bacanora is aggregated with REM’s 30% direct interest of the companies that hold the ten mining concessions, REM has a 42.04% economic interest in these assets;
· a 30% free carried interest to bankable feasibility study on the Yangibana Rare Earth Minerals Project, Australia;
· a 11.87% interest in the Cinovec Ltihium and Tin Deposit, located on the German border; and
· an approximate 1.1% interest in Western Lithium USA Corp (“Western Lithium”), which owns the Kings Valley Lithium Project in Nevada and the Cauchari – Olaroz Project in Argentina (as a result of the recent merger with Lithium Americas Corp.).